A Sunflower in Bloom
by PadawanNerd
Summary: One year before Midoriya Izuku steps foot in the hero school that is UA, an other Class 1-A begins their journey. These brave students - all six of them - are prepared to go PLUS ULTRA to become heroes, but what stands in their way? A showcase of a few original characters set in the BNHA universe plus a few familiar faces.
1. Beautiful Soldier, Sailor Sunflower

Hayate looked glumly around at the nearly-empty classroom. Aizawa-sensei had not been merciful this year, and yesterday's expulsion massacre had left three sad and shocked-looking students waiting for their judgement. The class, such as it was, included: himself, a six-foot-two hare with a human body; his twin sister Miku, a much smaller cottontail rabbit; and some dark-haired guy at the front with glasses and a green face not caused by any Quirk. The poor kid hadn't known what he was getting into. None of them had.

He caught his sister's eye. She twitched her ear towards the other kid and grimaced. They were both thinking the same thing: _it could have been us. We're here by the skin of our teeth. If one of us had been expelled… or both of us…_ The two siblings shared a moment of unhappy silence; the back row seemed awfully empty for just two people.

They were, of course, mutant-types, each with the distinguishing features and abilities of their species, a little different from a certain other rabbit-themed heroine. Their legs were made for jumping, their paws for digging, and their faces for looking adorable; the only difference was that he was lankier and had much longer ears. All in all, it was probably the type of Quirk more suited for police work; Hayate had a feeling they were only here because of yesterday's long jump and running scores, and that wasn't really a comforting thought. If Miku had been expelled…

The classroom door creaked open and he groaned. If this was Aizawa-sensei, coming to cull them again… But, no, this person was not a teacher. The boy who was standing uncertainly at the edge of the classroom looked… somehow familiar, despite being a complete stranger. He was small and skinny, with large, startlingly blue eyes and a few freckles on his cheeks; his hair was short and orange blond, sticking up from his head like the petals of a sunflower apart from two loose locks that hung over his eyes. He seemed to be American, at least on first glance, until Hayate noticed the distinctive shape of his eyes. Where had he come from? Hayate was sure he'd seen the kid somewhere before, and there was no way the kid had been in class yesterday.

Miku looked over and flicked an ear towards the new kid in a silent question. Did she recognise him too? Perhaps he lived near them, then. It was just on the tip of his tongue…

Whoever he was, he had quickly overcome his uncertainty; he was trying to start up a conversation with the glasses guy. He wasn't having much luck. Probably Glasses was too shell-shocked to speak: he wouldn't be too relevant to the story anyway… Then, with a smile, the new kid started to make his way towards them.

Up close, the kid seemed much younger than them, as if he had been moved up a grade or hadn't reached puberty yet. Still, Hayate couldn't help thinking that the kid reminded him of someone older… a teacher maybe? But the only teacher with hair anywhere near that colour was…

Present Mic! Hayate grinned at his sister. He had solved the case, and it was only the first chapter! It was all so simple. But first…

"Good morning, you two!" Spiky Present Mic Jr presented himself to the twins, giving a small bow and a nervous smile. "My name is Sasaki Himawari, but you can call me Hima-kun. Everyone does. It's a pleasure to meet you!" He turned from one to the other. "You two look very similar, and you're sitting next to each other –"

Miku caught Hayate's eye and wrinkled her nose playfully. They both knew what was coming next, and it was the perfect opportunity to have a little fun with the kid.

"— so are you siblings or something?"

The twins gasped in mock horror and confusion.

"Related? I've never seen this young lady in my life!"

"And I've certainly never met anyone like this lanky young gentleman."

"Just because I happen to have a similar _Leporidae-_ related Quirk –"

"Not even a similar species!"

The boy looked up, confused, then saw their faces.

"Oh! Hah, you nearly had me going there." He grinned. "May I enquire of these two stranger's names?"

Miku giggled and waved her hand. "Ah, so close. To be honest, this is actually my _ototo_ , Nakahara Hayate."

Hayate nodded. "And this is my _onee-san_ , Nakahara Miku."

Sasaki Mic smiled brightly. "It's nice to meet you both. I've only been moved into this class today due to some complications with my exam and results."

"Well, I guess Aizawa-sensei needs to fill up the class a bit after yesterday," Miku thought aloud. "Although surely they would have got all the testing done before term started?"

"Well, yes, but… I got in on last-minute recommendations, and… It's a long story. Speaking of which, what did happen yesterday? There's only three people here, I'd have expected much more from the size of the place."

Briefly the twins explained the series of tests they had gone through yesterday, including Aizawa-sensei's threat and the subsequent expulsions. Present Himawari frowned.

"Thank goodness I didn't have to do any tests like that. All I had to do was fight some robots. I really don't see how I could have…" He broke off, deep in thought. Before Hayate or Miku could ask what he meant or what his Quirk was, however, Aizawa-sensei had rolled in, and it was time to start the day.


	2. K-Son!

The lunchtime bell rang. The morning, so far, had been fairly uneventful – well, in comparison to the first day – and they were starting to get the feel of what classes would actually be like most of the time. In fact, each of them left the classroom feeling just a little bit better about their prospects as heroes.

"Hey, uh, Sasaki-san, you wanna come sit with us for lunch?"

"Please, Hima-kun is fine." He looked at his watch. "Sorry, I have a catch-up session with Aizawa-sensei. I'll see you two later!" With that, he headed off down the corridor to the left, leaving Hayate and Miku to turn in the other direction to the food hall.

"So." Miku made sure Sasaki-san was out of earshot. "That guy looks exactly like someone, but I have no idea who. You got any idea?"

Hayate smirked. "You're not gonna believe me."

"Try me, Speedy."

"Think about it. Last-minute recommendations. Not having to do any of those tests. This really stinks of nepotism. And there's only one teacher at this school who we know is blond. There's only one logical answer."

"Yeah? Go on."

"He's the illegitimate son of Present Mic!"

"What? No way." Miku wrinkled her nose. "He's way too young for a child that age."

"Well, yeah, but it's not completely impossible…"

"Pretty damn unlikely, I should think."

Just as he was about to expound on his theory (well, okay, it had a few holes, but _come on_ ), a man came out of one of the side rooms who killed all his belief in the Present Mic hypothesis. The man was tall – at least six, if not seven foot – and skinny with it, and he was the spitting image of Sasaki-san. His hair was longer and yellower, and his eyes were dark and overshadowed so that one could hardly see the blue, but otherwise it was like a creepily accurate déjà vu. The twins tried not to stare, merely giving the man a polite nod, then waited till he was out of sight to stare back at each other.

"That was –"

"Not Present Mic, that's for sure."

"You were right. It couldn't possibly be anyone else."

"Perhaps he's a teacher we don't know?"

"Well, we did miss orientation."

"But where's his hero costume? That gold suit can't have been it."

"Maybe he's not a hero…"

Miku sighed. "I don't know, Hayate. This is weird, and we still haven't figured out who either of them remind us of."

He nodded. "Well, if the guy's a teacher…"

"We'll soon find out, I guess."

There was a confident-sounding knock on the door, and a booming voice interrupted the intellectual silence of the office.

"I AM HERE… for our meeting, Principal Nezu!"

Nezu looked up towards the giant mass of muscle and blond hair that was All Might. The superhero was grinning as always, his well-structured face making up for the ugly yellow suit he was wearing.

"You can drop the act, Yagi-san. Gran Torino has told me everything."

All Might sighed and allowed himself to deflate into his weaker form. "Well, if he trusts you, I shall as well."

Nezu nodded and gestured towards the seat across form him, where a cup and saucer were laid out on the low table in preparation. "Please, take a seat. Tea?"

"Thank you." Yagi sat, trying to look more confident than he was. This was far outside his comfort zone, which mostly consisted of punching things until they stopped. "To be blunt, Principal Nezu, I am going to retire from my hero work soon."

"Indeed. And what will happen concerning… One for All?"

"I would like to figure that out too." Yagi sighed. "I need to pick a successor. There are… one or two that could take it on, but I haven't really seen… what I'm looking for. I don't have any children of my own, and, well, the clock is ticking for me."

"How much longer do you think you can keep this up for?" asked Nezu, pouring the tea.

"Three, perhaps four years if I stick to my time limits and don't do anything reckless."

"And we both know that will never happen, not while there are villains in this world." Nezu smiled. "And that's what you're here for." He proffered the teacup.

"Exactly, sir. Thank you." The Symbol of Peace took a delicate, almost maidenly sip of his tea. "If I may, I'd like to do some scouting here. Both with your current students and with anyone applying here – for the next few years, if necessary."

Nezu nodded. "You will need a reason for it. An alibi, if you will."

"Perhaps I could take a job as a security guard, a janitor…?"

"That is no job for the Symbol of Peace, Yagi. You underestimate yourself. Why not simply become a teacher?"

"Become… a teacher?" It was true he'd have to teach his successor, but… somehow he'd never seen himself in such a profession. "I don't have any training."

"It can be acquired."

"But… do you have space for me?"

Nezu looked thoughtful, as far as his expressions could be read. "Not this year, no, I have everyone I need. But…" He brightened. "I believe Sakura-sensei is due for retirement at the end of this year, and Snipe-sensei will be taking her position, so… you could easily take his place."

All Might began to look more hopeful. "Them – can I really be a teacher here? To aid in the search for a successor?"

"Of course! Your experience and knowledge alone would be of great help to the students. You could teach them a great deal while you're here."

The bony face smiled openly, for the first time since he had deflated. "Then I accept."

"Excellent. Now, if I may change the subject a little, I need your insight on something."

"Mine?"

"There is a certain student that came to us on recommendations today. I won't go into it, but we believe his power will be excellent if we manage to harness it for good."

"And what does that have to do with me?"

"Have you ever heard the name Sasaki? Perhaps an old friend of yours?"

Yagi Toshinori frowned. "I can't deny it sounds vaguely familiar, although I've met a few people with similar names. Perhaps I rescued or fought someone by that name, a long time ago."

"How long ago, do you think?"

"Oh, years and years. The first person by that name was probably more than twenty years ago, and there have been perhaps two or three since then. It's all a bit fuzzy, though. You know how it is, everyone begins to blur together."

"Hmmm." Nezu gave him an odd look. "You're sure? Only the vaguest connection from a long time ago?"

"I'm sure. If it was something more significant I'd tell you. Why?"

"Oh, it was just something about this student's Quirk."

"You think I have chosen my successor already?"

He really didn't know. Nezu smiled and waved a paw. "I'm sorry, perhaps I'm seeing a connection that isn't there. At any rate, I can satisfy myself that there is nothing untoward going on."

All Might nodded. "I'm glad I could be of service."

"Indeed. Now that's settled, perhaps we can have a chat about other things…"

Nezu watched the tall, emaciated figure stroll out of his office. Now that they had everything organised, he could take a little time to think properly about everything All Might had said. He would happily take the aging hero on, but… did the big guy really not know about Sasaki? Or was that bony face better at hinging things than it appeared?

He shook his head. Gran Torino had said his old apprentice would never knowingly deceive anyone unless it was necessary for their safety, and even then, he was the truthful type at heart. And yet…

Nezu picked up a folder he had laid aside for his meeting and opened it. There, on the front page next to his blood type, Quirk, and homeroom teacher, was a picture of Sasaki Himawari – almost a perfect replica of the man who had just left his office.

Who was this kid?


	3. One Punch Man's Brother

"…yeah, my dad said UA was the best school for heroes." Sasaki smiled. "So when my teacher decided on a whim to recommend me, of course we both jumped at the chance despite how late it was. I mean, you would, wouldn't you?"

"Your dad?" asked Miku. "Is he by any chance tall, blonde, and skinny?" She gestured around her head to indicate the shape of the strange man's har. "We saw him as we were going to lunch."

Sasaki looked up from his lunch. "Huh? Blond? No, my dad has straight dark hair. He's not much taller than I am, either. Who on earth did you see?"

Hayate scratched his ear. "Perhaps another relative, on your mother's side perhaps."

Sasaki frowned. "My mother didn't really have any siblings or anything. When she died everything went to us and no one else."

"I'm sorry to hear about that."

The blondish boy shrugged. "Well, I never knew her. She died before I can remember and, well, Dad doesn't talk about her much. It's entirely possible that I have a long-lost distant uncle or cousin out there that I don't know about."

Miku and Hayate looked at each other thoughtfully. Perhaps they were thinking too much into it, then. And yet…

"So, anyway, Nakahara siblings," added Sasaki in a joking tone, "what about your family? They're not all rabbits as well, are they?"

"Are you calling me a rabbit?"

"Shut it, Hayate, we all know you're sensitive about that. To answer your question, Sasaki-san, no. Our mother is a hamster, while our father is a fox. And we have a very cute younger brother who is a kangaroo."

"That family tree makes no sense…" He shook his head. "But it must be nice to have siblings."

"It's not everything," said Hayate with a smile. "We also put a lot of value on our friends… Hima-kun."

"Ah, you finally called me it!" Hima-kun straightened up happily, his scrawny figure seeming to become stronger and more confident. "Well, it's an honour to be called your friend. And if you ever need me –" he grinned and raised a finger to the sky – "then I am here!"

And suddenly, it clicked in Hayate's head. No way. No actual way. It was impossible. And yet…

The person this kid reminded him of. The reason that the strange man from yesterday looked so familiar.

They must be related to All Might.

* * *

"All Might."

"Yup."

"You're serious." Miku stared at him in frank disbelief. " _The_ All Might. The Symbol of Peace. The most powerful, untouchable hero in the world. Related to those two scrawny sunflowers?"

"Well, maybe he has siblings we don't know about. One is the scrawny guy and the other was Hima-kun's late mother. It all makes sense!"

"We don't even know any of their Quirks. They could all be completely different and unrelated. Hell, that tall guy could be Quirkless for all we know."

"It happens sometimes. One sibling gets all the power while another gets nothing." He frowned. "On the other hand, they could all have very similar Quirks, and that would just confirm it. But," he added, "we can talk about it later." He flicked an ear towards Hima-kun, who had spotted them as they made their way back to class.

"Man, it's going to take me a while to get used to the size of this place. It took me ages to find a bathroom! What with my catch-up with Aizawa-sensei, there's barely enough time to eat lunch…" Hima-kun scratched his head ruefully, then shrugged. "Well, anyway." He nodded at the twins. "What've you been talking about?"

Hayate felt himself flush under his fur, but Miku quickly jumped in. "We were just talking about All Might and, well, speculating his Quirk." It wasn't a total lie.

"All Might… I can't help wondering if I'll ever be as good as that some day…"

Hayate nodded quickly. "I think it's safe to say he inspired all of us. It seems a little sacrilegious to speculate about someone on such a high level."

Miku shook her head. "I'm sure he'd be very gracious if anyone actually did figure it out. Personally, I think it's a mutant-type that makes his body so strong."

Hima-kun frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Surely no one could be that strong for so long without any type of training. I actually think it's an emitter-type that makes his punches hundreds of times more forceful. It seems like a pretty common type."

"No, no, no." Suddenly Hayate was getting into the argument. "If it's any type of temporary Quirk and not a mutation, then it has to be a transformation-type. He must be able to build his muscles up to a superhuman level somehow."

"Don't transformation-types usually have some sort of time limit? And All Might always looks the same, which lends into my idea," Miku pointed out. "Yeah, maybe if he got jacked with an Emitter Quirk it'd be the same, but surely then we'd hear about him going to the gym or training or whatever. It'd be in all the tabloids by evening."

The boys both nodded. When she put it like that, and with all the qualities All Might had shown up to this point, it seemed like the best available option.

For a moment just before they entered the class, all three of them considered a mutant All Might. It sounded like something from a Western manga, as if there was a guy called Professor Y running a school behind the scenes… Hayate decided to change the subject. "So, anyway, Hima-kun, what about your Quirk? Is it –"

He was interrupted by the bell for the start of class, and wondered when he would ever get an answer to his question.


	4. Puella Transfer Student Magica

Somewhere in the city, a plain-looking green-haired boy picked up his notebook out of the koi pond and sighed. That Kacchan was so dumb. What if he really had thrown himself out of a window? It was bad enough that his hero notebook was so damaged…

* * *

It was time for their first Battle Experience lesson. The four students sat in the mockingly huge 1-A classroom, each wondering how they would learn to work with larger groups in such a small class. It didn't look hopeful, unless they joined up with 1-B somehow.

Snipe-sensei walked in, his mask and hat covering his face as usual, apparently unfazed at the drastically decreased class; behind him, the reason for his attitude followed. To the whole class's surprise, two new students entered the classroom in UA uniforms; Aizawa-sensei came in behind them, looking red-eyed and murderous as usual.

"Alright, kids, listen up. We don't have enough students in the class, so I took the liberty of transferring in two kids from the general studies course. They'll be joining this class from now on. Kids, introduce yourselves."

The first one, a fairly ordinary looking girl with long black hair, large eyes and pointy ears, stepped forward with a bow. "I am Naito Alice! Please, feel free to call me Ali-chan! I hope to get to know you all better."

She was so adorable… Miku knew there was no way she _wasn't_ going to call the girl Ali-chan.

Aizawa-sensei nodded and the girl stepped back. The other kid, an average looking boy with messy brown hair, slouched forward with a sharp-toothed grin. "Yamamoto Kenji. Yo. People call me Spike. Pleased to meet you."

"All right, that's enough for now. Snipe-sensei, the class is yours."

Snipe gave a casual salute in response and clapped his hands together. "Right, kids, let's get those costumes on and get out to the practice ground. Quickly now!"

* * *

They assembled at one of the gigantic built-up areas meant for battle practice kitted out in their requested costumes. Hayate and Miku were wearing matching body suits – Hayate's was navy blue with a delicate pink triangle covering his shoulders, back, and sternum, while Miku's was pink with a navy-blue triangle. Their elbow-length gloves and personalised knee-high boots (designed specifically to accommodate their powerful hind legs) also matched the triangle on their chests.

Beside him, scratching at the uncomfortable costume, was Hima-kun. He was clad in a baggy-looking orange and black jumpsuit that looked almost home-made – probably he hadn't had time to submit a real design. He wasn't the only one; the two new students were wearing their sports uniforms sheepishly. The only other proper design seemed to be the one Glasses Kid was wearing: he was wrapped from neck to ankles in long, loose-ish bandages like a mummy, with a pair of simple but professional looking boots underneath.

"Right," Snipe said, addressing the somewhat mixed bag of potential future heroes, "This will be a game of what I call 'Heroes, Villains and Civilians'. Each pair that I pick will take a turn as heroes, villains and innocents. The villain team has captured the civilians and is holding them hostage; the hero team's objective is to rescue the civilians unharmed or capture the villains with capture tape or both. The villains must defend themselves against this and attempt to capture the heroes in return. The hero and villain teams will be allowed five minutes to prepare and plan beforehand but will not be allowed to use their Quirks in that time. I'm giving each game a time limit of fifteen minutes in which heroes and villains may use their Quirks as they see fit. Civilians may not use their Quirk, but may attempt to escape if the opportunity arises."

He looked around at the class. "With such a small class, lots will be useless, so… Let's have Nakahara the elder and Naito together, Yamamoto and Sasaki, and that leaves Abe and Nakahara the younger." The glasses kid. Well, perhaps that was to be expected. Hayate caught his sister's eye and smiled encouragingly. It would probably be better than Aizawa-sensei's tests… right? She gave an equally worried smile in return, twitching an ear in solidarity.

Snipe held up a few small items. "You will have these headsets to communicate with your teammates and with myself. We'll be using those three buildings there, so let's see who will be first…"


	5. Mobile Quirk Gundam Wing

Hayate sat tied in the corner of the room behind the door, staring up at the grinning Yamamoto – Spike, was it? – in his ill-fitting UA tracksuit. The kid seemed perfectly happy to simply stand facing the door with his arms crossed in the centre of the room, not even bothering to defend the window. Hayate wasn't sure which floor they were on – the 'civilians' had been blindfolded to allow the villains to 'kidnap' them – but it probably wasn't somewhere his sister could just jump up to. Spike seemed to be confident that there would be no attacks from the air.

Perhaps Spike knew Naito – Ali-chan's Quirk; they had been in the same course, even if it had only been for a short time. Suddenly, he felt at a disadvantage – the only person whose Quirk he was familiar with was his sister. How were he and Abe-san supposed to plan anything when it came their turn?

"Get ready, people," came Snipe's voice over the headsets. "You have one minute remaining."

Before Hayate could move or make a noise, Spike took his leftover capture tape and started wrapping it around Hayate's eyes, ears, and mouth. His long, sensitive ears, which normally stood tall above his head, were roughly crushed against his head. He could barely breathe… Spike continued wrapping the capture tape around Hayate's lower body as well, perhaps for extra security. Al last, feeling even more mummified than Abe-san himself, he felt Spike finish and let go. He was in darkness, completely blind and dumb, and could barely hear through the coils of sticky tape. This really was the real thing…

* * *

Spike stepped back for a second, admiring the muffled lump of capture tape with satisfaction. He had left the nostrils exposed – for obvious reasons – but otherwise the head, shoulders and much of the body of the tall hare guy were suppressed. Let the heroes try and guide that out of a tall building!

"15 seconds." Snipe intoned. "14, 13, 12…"

Spike sat down cross-legged in the middle of the room facing the door. He had positioned Hare Guy next to the door, in the corner so that when the door opened the bundle of tape would be behind it – the heroes would either hurt the civilian by opening the door too wide, or have their sight of the civilian blocked by opening the door too cautiously. Either way, of course, he'd immediately be able to jump up and fight them, and there was no way Ali-chan was winning against him. The bunny girl, maybe. But her? Definitely not.

"5, 4, 3.."

Spike closed his eyes in meditation. Now, if only all could go to plan…

* * *

"3, 2, 1, let's jam!"

At the entrance to the building, Miku gave a quick thumbs-up to Ali-chan and took up a defensive position. The small, adorable black-haired girl sat in the lotus position in the entryway, ready to start her search; with a sigh, she closed her eyes.

 _Tick…tick…tick…tick…_

Miku tried desperately to keep from fidgeting or disturbing the girl, but she could feel the time slipping away. She didn't really understand the girl's Quirk, but it couldn't take that long, could it?

 _Tick…tick…tick…tick…_

The girl opened her black eyes. "Sasaki-san and Spike are both sitting cross-legged on the floor with their eyes closed. Sasaki-san is slightly warmer, so he might be on a lower floor. As for the civilians, their eyes, ears, and mouth have been bound up with capture tape – quite roughly, in Nakahara-san's case. They are both sitting with their hands tied behind their back and their ankles tied together, and both of their backs are against a wall. I would say Abe-san is the warmer one."

"Right," said Miku uncertainly. "No room numbers or anything?"

"I'm afraid not. I'll have to… try to force the subject."

Miku sighed. "Okay. The yelling plan." She took a deep breath, and tensed herself to start running. For a brief second, she looked back at the beautiful girl, already closing her eyes for her assault, and wondered if she would be safe. How easy would it be, just to perform a sneak attack on the fragile looking girl? But, for now, she had to trust that this plan would work.

Someone in a floor above her began to yell. She began to run.

* * *

In his room, Hima-kun sat calmly with his legs crossed and eyes closed, waiting to hear a set of tell tale footsteps outside the door. If all went well, he might not even have to use his Quirk as the two girls searched fruitlessly for them; it had been half a minute already. Spike said Ali-chan would find it more difficult if they just sat and waited with their eyes closed; so all he had to do was wait and hear…

His eyes snapped open and he scrambled to his feet, yelling louder than he'd ever yelled before: "Help! Spike! Agh! Oh, god, help, Spike, save me quickly!" He stumbled quickly towards the door and crashed out into the hallway, part of him asking himself what was going on, yelling with all his might. "Aagh! Help!" He turned his head towards the door, tripping over his feet. "Oh, god! Room B-2! Aaaagh!" His body weaved drunkenly down the corridor, shouting and –

He fell to the ground, his head reeling and his eyes watering. Shit! What had possessed him to go and do that? They were meant to be hiding in wait – oh, god. It was Ali-chan. It had to be. He groaned and closed his eyes again. Was she still in his head? How could you tell – how could anyone tell? He didn't know…

He got onto his hands and knees, woozily, blindly, feeling his way back towards his room as best he could, trying to be silent. Spike would be coming down now – there was no way he hadn't heard that – and now the heroes knew where he was, too. His head reeled…

This would be it, then. He would have to use his Quirk on people. He would have to fight.

Well, on the positive side, they could probably still keep Abe-san a hostage. He would just have to wait and se—hear.

* * *

The shouting was coming from Himawari-kun! His ally was in trouble, much to Spike's surprise. He had expected the kid to last longer than that.

Blindly, he got up and felt his way towards the door, trying the best he could to be both quiet and speedy. If he could get to the stairs before they heard him, they wouldn't have a clue which room he had been in. If he could just –

"Hey! Agh! Help, please! Hima-kun, help me! Aagh! Dammit!" His eyes had opened suddenly, apparently of their own accord; his feet thumped one after the other out of the room into the corridor. His head turned to see the room number. "Aagh! Room E-5! Hurry, please! Aaagh!"

With that, he was released, and promptly collapsed to his knees, vomiting onto the floor.

Well, shit.


	6. Miku's Bizarre Adventure

Miku pricked up her ears at the room numbers and hesitated for a split second, knowing she could bound up the stairs much quicker than cute little Ali-chan. And yet, she knew, they had to stick to the plan. And Ali-chan had been very clear – whatever happened, Miku had to go to Hima-kun first and take him out quickly before they faced the much more formidable Spike. Apparently he had been disqualified from the hero course in the exam for attacking students and robots alike; yet here he was. So Hima-kun had to be first.

She sprang forward and bounded towards room B-2 on all fours, faster than the rushing wind.

* * *

Ali-chan ran up the stairs on the other side, clutching her aching head. With any luck, Miku-chan would be able to take out Sasaki-san and release his prisoner so that they could join up quickly and take out Spike together. On the other hand, there was no telling what kind of effect her new technique would have on either of the boys – perhaps it would incapacitate one or both of them for a while. It gave her a hefty headache, that was for sure. She stopped and put a hand up against the wall; briefly, she closed her eyes to check.

Ah. She thanked her lucky stars she wasn't squeamish; it probably wasn't a good idea to use this on allies without their consent. Perhaps she shouldn't have released them so abruptly…

* * *

Hima-kun lay on the floor of the room with one foot stuck outside the door, spread-eagled with his eyes still firmly closed. It wasn't just that they needed to keep their eyes shut to stop Ali-chan from seeing what they saw – it was the fact that every time he opened his eyes, the world swirled and waved madly. There was no way he could move any more at this rate – the nausea was too great. The floor was cool and smooth… he could just lie here and wait to recover, if…

 _Thumpity thumpity thumpity_

Was that his heart beating to the rhythm of the twisted world? Or was it –

 _THUMPITY THUMPITY THUMPITY_

Miku was coming. Miku was coming to get him and here he was, lying on the floor in a daze, weak in every muscle and trying not to be sick. He had to fight… he had to stop the heroes from winning… was he actually being graded on this? Who knew at this crazy school…

 ** _THUMPITY THUMPITY_**

Sasaki Himawari activated his Quirk.

* * *

Miku reached room B-2 and stopped. Strange, the door had looked slightly open just a moment ago – now it was completely closed. She sniffed. Yes, Hima-kun was definitely here, and – was that Abe-san? It must be. She'd know Hayate's scent anywhere.

She stood back up on two legs and reached forward to open the door. It gave way slowly, surely, revealing the room beyond and –

"All Might?!"

All Might was standing there, in the flesh. The Symbol of Peace himself. An odd smirk on his face, quite different from his usual confident grin. He seemed to be wearing some sort of orange and black tracksuit that clung provocatively to every muscle, and was looking at her, not saying a word…

She bit her lip. No, that wasn't quite All Might. He looked younger, smaller, less stable somehow – in fact, he couldn't have been much older than her, as odd as that thought was to contemplate. His eyes were not dark and shadowed like the real thing, and his hair was… slightly browner perhaps. More muted. Most importantly, the expression on his face… This was an impulsive, a determined All Might, completely different from an experienced and calm number 1 hero. No, this was a boy…She sniffed carefully.

" _Hima-kun_?!"

* * *

Somewhere out in the city, All Might – the real All Might – looked up at the sky and sighed, trying not to make eye contact with the green-haired boy behind him. Whatever it was the young man had on his mind, he sure was taking his sweet time to get to the point. The seconds ticked away…


	7. Almost Assassination Classroom

For several seconds, neither Miku nor the All Might doppelganger that was Hima-kun spoke, too shocked to move. Hundreds of questions ran through her head, all clamouring for her attention. She had assumed… They had guessed that Hima-kun was a transformation or emitter type, but none of them had planned for something like this. Five minute's preparation wasn't enough – she needed at least a week to plan against… against this. How strong was he? How fast? Or did he just look big and punch small? She had no idea… She wished she hadn't had to go on alone. But, well, she had to make the best of it.

She jumped. Not straight towards Faux Might, but to the right, towards the wall beside the window. If she could push off from it with her feet – there! She had caught him by surprise, managing to attack from behind rather than head-on. He turned his head, but she was already bringing her feet round for the kick –

He swatted her legs out of the air with a large, un-calloused hand. With a crash, she fell to the floor, her body bruising as it smashed against the floor.

Oh, crap. Even as a doppelganger All Might was just too powerful… thank goodness neither this one or the real one was a villain in real life. She looked up. The looming figure turned towards her.

"So, hero… what shall I do with you?" The voice, not quite All Might's, had just the slightest hint of Hima-kun; the effect was incredibly unnerving.

She scrambled back, trying to gain a footing, trying to figure out a plan, anything…Suddenly, she caught sight of a bundle of bandages and capture tape just behind the door. Abe-san! If she could rescue him and get away intact, perhaps there wouldn't be a need to fight… if…

She manoeuvred herself into a crouch, one gloved paw on the floor, the other balled into a fist.

"Surrender, villain, or face the consequences of your actions!" she declared, more confidently than she felt. "You are under arrest for kidnapping innocent civilians, use of your Quirk without a license and… er… threatening a hero in her line of duty. If you come quietly you may receive a lighter sentence –"

"AH HA HA HA!" Oh, fuck, he was really going all out with the Evil Might impression. "Do you really think there's any way to defeat ME? I will destroy you and this hostage will be mine!" He was right in front of her now, hands on his hips, just like all of the news clippings, his head thrown back in triumph. The resemblance really was uncanny…

It was worth a try. She jumped onto the wall on her left, then again towards the bandaged bundle of Abe-san. She just needed a bit of momentum -

There it was again, that massive slab of hand blocking her path. But this time, she was ready for it. She grabbed hold of Hima-kun's wrist with both hands and flipped over it, changing her trajectory slightly so she was aiming for the door rather than Abe-san. As she fell feet first, she used her momentum to pull Hima-kun over her head and into the door like a giant hammer – at least, she tried, tugging as hard as she could on the tree trunk arm. Instead, the giant boy did not move an inch as she pulled down on his arm. And there she was, hanging like a Christmas ornament a few feet from the door and from Abe-san.

The doppelganger turned his head back over his shoulder to look at her, an icy calm expression on his face. Without a word, he picked her up by the ears with his other hand and held her in front of him as if she was a doll. His eyes burned a steely, metallic blue.

"I told you before, hero. I will destroy you."

With that, he wound his arm back behind his head and threw Miku out of the window.

* * *

There was a crash and a scream from downstairs. Ali-chan looked up from trying to undo Nakahara-san's capture tape. That… that couldn't have been Miku-chan, could it? Surely if Sasaki-san had been as badly affected as Spike, it should have been easy to tie him up and rescue Abe-san. Unless… She looked at Spike, tied up with capture tape, who suddenly seemed a lot more confident despite his greenish face, and wondered what he knew.

She started to work faster on Nakahara-san's bindings, ignoring his muffled yelps as she tore the tape from his furry face. She only hoped she could rescue him and get to Miku before it was too late…

* * *

"And the villains win." Snipe looked at the chaos portrayed on the video screens and shook his head. Such power… He hadn't expected the kid to go all out like that. So this was what they were talking about, the whispers in the teacher's lounge. It really was another All Might… He pressed the pager for Recovery Girl.


	8. You-he-oh!

The four boys, freed from their bonds, watched as the medics ran towards their patients. Hima-kun, his body back to normal, tried to offer a hand, but was pushed out of the way with a warning that "you've done enough". They were right.

The yelling, he knew, had been somehow caused by Ali-chan; the fighting, though… Some part of him had enjoyed being evil, had wanted to inflict maximum damage, and had taken a sadistic pleasure in crushing Ali-chan and Miku-chan underfoot. He knew which part of himself that was, and he didn't like it.

Snipe-sensei was waiting for them as they lined up outside the building, his arms crossed and his face, as always, unreadable under the mask.

"Well, boys, our game must end here for the time being due to injuries. To be honest, I wasn't optimistic that all of you would escape unscathed, but then…" He sighed. "This setback does not, however, prevent your education from continuing. Abe-kun, Nakahara-kun, as the civilians you may tell me your thoughts on the exercise first."

Abe-san stepped forward, shaking from head to foot. "I wasn't able to see much, sensei, but I think the heroes' strategy was flawed."

"How so?"

"If they had focused on one villain at a time as a team they would have had more of a chance of success, even without previous knowledge of Sasaki-san's Quirk."

Hayate blinked. Hadn't that been what had happened? He had heard muffled shouts from Hima-kun, then from Spike, and then had felt his bindings being taken off before Miku's scream. Then by the time he was free and able to stand, Ali-chan had already run off to be met with… well, whatever had caused her to be so badly injured. Had Abe-san had a better chance to understand what had really happened? But Snipe-sensei was nodding.

"Any other thoughts?"

"Er, the trap where she made Sasaki-san and Yamamoto-san shout out the room numbers like that was quite clever, though! Although I don't know how she did it…" A… trap?

"Indeed. They spread fear among the villains and made them more likely to leave their captives unguarded."

"Not to mention that whatever she did completely incapacitated me and nearly Hima-kun as well," added Spike, still looking incredibly queasy. "It was a really well-run sneak attack."

Snipe nodded. "However, they should have been more concerned about Sasaki-kun's Quirk rather than assuming they could take him out straight away. Speaking of which… Sasaki-kun, any insights about what you did wrong?"

"Well, er… instead of binding her with capture tape…" Hima-kun squirmed under Hayate's curious gaze. "I…er… threw Miku-chan out of the window…"

"You WHAT?!"

* * *

Hayate fumed at Hima-kun outside the sick bay. Snipe had gone in to check on the girls for a debrief, and there was a palpable tension in the air between the two boys.

"I still can't believe you actually threw her out of a fucking window."

"I'm sorry, Hayate-kun! I just… got carried away..."

" _You_ got carried away? She got _thrown_ away!"

"I'm so sorry." Hima-kun looked close to tears. "I didn't mean to, really, it's just I haven't really used my Quirk in combat against people before…"

That got Hayate to pause. "Wait, what? Doesn't the entrance exam require you to fight?"

"The test for recommended students is different! And all of my other Quirk assessments have been in a safe environment!"

"Good grief, you really haven't…"

Hima-kun gave him a low, unhappy bow. "I'm really sorry, Hayate-kun. I thought I could control myself better than that. I should have been more careful."

Hayate sighed. "Just… don't do that again, okay?"

"…right." There was an awkward silence.

"So, uh, anyway, Sasaki-san," Abe-san piped up, "why did Nakahara-san – the other one – call you All Might when she opened the door?"

Hima-kun flushed. "Ah. You did hear that. Well –"

Snipe walked out of the sick bay, closing the door behind him with a finality that was not to be argued with.

"All right, boys, we'll be analysing the footage from that game in more detail in our next class. For now, you are dismissed." He gave a piercing glare to Hima-kun, who flinched. "If you're wondering, Nakahara-chan and Naito-chan are fine, but they need a little time to rest and recoup their energy. Recovery Girl is keeping an eye on them and they will be released at the end of the day." With that, he turned towards the teacher's lounge. "Now, go on, scram, all of you, and don't get in anyone's way. I need a coffee…"

* * *

For a while, none of the boys said a word or moved from where they had been; none of them felt like deserting the girls, and none of them could think of anything else to do. Then, suddenly, Spike opened his mouth.

"Himawari-kun, just tell them your Quirk already. They're gonna find out eventually. The girls probably already have figured it out, so there's no point hiding it. Now, or I'm gonna tell 'em myself."

Hima-kun pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "…Okay, fine." He planted his scrawny legs solidly on the ground and balled up his fists. "Just… I'll show you, okay? Just for a few seconds. You all have the right to know." He closed his eyes.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, before Hayate's eyes, Hima-kun's body and muscles started to swell and ripple. Suddenly, definition appeared on his abdominals; biceps and triceps fought for dominance; skinny legs grew into massive, muscled trunks. His hair flattened town, apart from the two smaller locks at the front which began to stick up.

And at last there, but for a few minor details, was All Might in the flesh, the Symbol of Peace, the hope of heroes and the scourge of villains. Hayate's mouth dropped open.

A moment later, the spell was broken, and Hima-kun was shrinking back to his usual self.

"Well, you've seen it now. I can turn into an All Might doppelganger, like a very specific type of Gigantification. Pretty much the same strength and speed as him, as far as I can tell, but… well, not quite the same personality. I suppose you could call it an alter-ego."

"And you can just… be him? Any time?" It sounded like the most ridiculous, wish-fulfilling dream, to pass for the most famous hero in Japan and possibly the world at any time you wanted.

"I can only do it for an hour or so at a time, although I think my time limit might increase if I train it. That's why I usually stay as myself unless it's, you know, urgent. Not to mention, when I'm in that state… well, you all know what I did." He hung his head. "This time was the worst example so far. I don't think logically, I just… smash my enemies. Even if they're my friends."

He sank into a gloomy silence; the other three looked at each other in shock.

 _To think,_ though Hayate, _my sister went up against a copy of All Might himself. It's surprising she isn't injured any worse._

For some reason, that made him incredibly proud.


	9. Detective Hayate

Miku walked towards the sick bay door with Ali-chan. She was surprised at how easy it was, considering that just a while ago she had been barely conscious with multiple fractures. She opened the door – and was immediately engulfed in the long arms of her little brother.

"You're all right!"

"I'm fine, if you don't smother me. What, you thought I wouldn't recover from being thrown out of a second-story window? I'm not as soft and cute as you are, nii-chan… People get hurt worse than that all the time."

"It's not that. You,,, you fought All Might! Not many people can say that who are still walking free… Even if it was really Hima-kun you – you got really far! I'm proud of you."

Miku extracted herself from his arms. "All right, you big softy. I've only been out for a bit." She looked around at the boys standing around the door. "You're all here? I guess it's the attraction of a pair of pretty girls…"

Hima-kun stepped forward. "Actually, I wanted to apologise to you both. I lost control of my… of my Quirk." He bowed. "I'm sorry. I will work hard not to injure anyone from now on."

Miku and Ali-chan exchanged glances. "We should have been more careful, too, We underestimated your Quirk, and as a result risked injuring ourselves."

"But," added Ali-chan, " _he's_ gone now, right? That man?"

Hima-kun frowned. "Yes, I'm not going to let him out again unless I need to. Next time, I promise, I'll be in control. I will keep you safe from him."

"Good."

* * *

"So."

"Indeed."

"Hima-kun's Quirk."

"Yes."

"It's a transformation-type, not a mutant-type or an emitter-type."

"That would appear to be the case."

"And he just happens to look exactly like All Might when he uses it, and have all the strength and speed of All Might."

"Apparently so."

"Hmmm."

They were walking home together, trying to untangle the events of the day. Miku rubbed her head.

"At this point, it would be stupid to think that he's _not_ related to All Might. Whether he realizes it or not."

"I agree.. If he does know… well, he has the decency to be embarrassed about it at least."

"But Hima-kun… he surely isn't the type to keep secrets? He seems like an open type of kid."

"We've known him for, what, ten chapters? Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Besides, he just threw you out of a window with no provocation."

"I got better, though!"

"Still."

They wandered along in silence for a minute, wondering which one of the two would point out the obvious. Finally, Miku flicked her ear impatiently.

"Oh, come on, Hayate. If Hima-kun is really related to All Might, and his normal self is a scrawny shadow of his muscled form, then that means…"

"That All Might must be the same or similar."

"That man we saw. If anyone's a smaller, weaker version of All Might, then he's it."

Hayate frowned. "Does he know about Hima-kun?"

"Maybe that's why he came to UA in his weak form, to try and meet up with his son."

"Maybe they did meet up. They were both going in the same direction."

Miku shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Aizawa-sensei mentioned something about their catch-up session as well; if Hima-kun had missed that, there would have been hell to pay and we would probably have heard about it."

"I see. Then what was that guy… no, All Might doing there?"

"He could have been there just to chat with one of the teachers, and know nothing about Hima-kun." She shrugged. "I'm sure he has friends there, or something."

"Then… man, it's going to be a shock to his system when he realizes he has a son, and when his son realizes who his real father is…"

"If that scandal got out… It could destroy All Might's whole image as a hero. He's _wholesome_. The... The Symbol of Peace can't have…"

"Surely his career is worth more than that?" Hayate's ears tapped up and down thoughtfully.

"Still, his credibility will drop like a stone, and then what?"

He frowned. "Well, for one thing, the other Sasaki-san will be pissed."

* * *

"Cloner, we've talked about this." The voice relayed through the speaker of the disposable phone. "I'm already making Quirk-filled monsters for Shigaraki. I don't need any more."

"Come on, babe, you're no fun. At least my creations are still human. And I want a challenge."

There was a small, metallic chuckle from the speaker.

"Well, then, which do you have in mind?"

"Let's see… I've done the number 63, the number 15, and of course, the number 1, I can't go any higher. So how about… the number 2?"

"Endeavour? He's got a wife and kids already. Not to mention he doesn't exactly have hair for you to steal these days."

"I have other ways. I always have been rather a _femme fatale_."

"As long as you don't send the next one to a hero school."

"Why not? He might as well learn about hero work from the best. Trust me, Master, when you meet him you'll understand."

"And yet he learns nothing of the more noble craft. You insist on keeping him in the dark, when you could have even greater control, even greater power over him. Treat them well and honestly and they'll follow you like dogs."

Cloner smiled delicately. "I'll bear that in mind."

"I do look forward to meeting him. You know, you are free to call upon the people of the League when you decide to finally bring him to my hearth. But, of course, this other project of yours…"

"I understand, master darling. I don't need any other help."

"Good. In that case, you're on your own."


	10. Princess Miku-noke

"Did you hear about the kid who got attacked by the slime monster last night?"

"Such a cool Quirk! I wish I could do that!"

"Man, I feel sorry for the kid who tried to save him. Imagine being so useless you don't even have a Quirk to use to defend yourself."

"Hey, being Quirkless isn't as bad as you think. I thought I was until I figured out my Quirk."

"Well, thank goodness All Might was there, anyway. Otherwise things really could have gone wrong."

"Oh yeah, they could both have been killed, or worse."

"Yeah, the green-haired kid really wasn't any help at all, huh?"

"That's an understatement. Speaking of All Might, though, Hima-kun –"

"All right class, that's enough." Aizawa-sensei rolled up to the front desk and started unzipping his sleeping bag. "Now that we've got everyone else in class, there's a small matter that we need to take care of. Sorry to spring this on you so suddenly, but you need to pick a class president."

The class let out a relieved sigh. Such a normal thing…

"Take out a piece of paper and write down your vote for the best candidate, in your opinion, and I'll collect them when you're done."

"Sensei," Abe-san raised his hand, "won't everyone vote for themselves since we don't know each other?"

"Just write something down, I don't care. If you're not sure of their name just describe them."

* * *

He picked up the last vote. "And this one is also for 'Bunny Girl'. That makes three for Nakahara Miku, two for Naito Alice, and one for Sasaki Himawari. That wasn't so hard, was it?" The two girls looked at each other and smiled. "Right, so Nakahara Miku will be the president while Naito Alice will be the vice president. Any objections? No? Good, let's start our day."

* * *

For a couple of days, there were no major incidents; their rescue exercises at the USJ went off without a hitch, and they continued to learn more and more both in normal subjects and about hero work. Neither Hayate nor Miku could find a tactful way to talk to Hima-kun, and what could they have said anyway?

"It's not even as if we have any evidence…" Miku admitted in private. "It could all just be a big coincidence." So they dropped it for the time being, and focused on their studies: soon enough, they more or less forgot the issue completely as Aizawa-sensei made the announcement that the whole class had been waiting for with baited breath.

"As you all may know, UA holds a sports festival every year at about this time. I will be expecting all of you to do UA proud, so practice as much as you can without breaking any rules."

"Sir, what will the challenges be this year?"

"You think I could tell you, even if I knew? I have no idea. But you know, the class might change based on certain people's performance."

So he was threatening them again… They nodded glumly. "Yes, sensei."

* * *

"So, Ali-chan, how do you think you'll prepare for the festival?"

"Oh, I…" Ali-chan blushed. "I've been doing my best to extend my range for Point of View, but I really need volunteers for possession practice. It's just… well, no one really wants to try it, and I don't blame them." She sighed. "I bet Ragdoll never had this problem. Or Mandalay. But then, their quirks are pretty harmless…"

"I'll help you, Ali-chan! It… it could be a way for me to build up resistance to possession and mind-reading Quirks, y'know?" Miku smiled at her, but a nervous ear-flick made it clear she hadn't convinced herself.

"R-really? You'd do that?"

"I'll join you too." Hayate gave a helpful smile to his sister. It would be more interesting than regular training, at any rate.

"Oh, are we having a possession demonstration?" Spike grinned. "I'll bring the buckets."

"I keep saying, that was an accident! I'm really sorry!"

"May… may I also volunteer?" Hima-kun lowered his hand sheepishly. "You could maybe try to take control of – of my Quirk."

"Oh, perhaps you could try using my Quirk as well!" Abe-san turned around, his glasses flashing suddenly. "That would be an excellent experiment! I'll get my costume ready!"

"Costumes? Oh yeah, the new guys have their costumes now, too! Let's see them!"

"Really? You guys all want to help?"

Miku smiled genuinely at the girl, who was almost crying with relief and happiness. "Of course we will. We're classmates, we all help each other out."

"Then – then let's meet in our free period tomorrow on the sports field!"

"Yeah! That's the spirit!"


	11. Code Hero: Alice of the Revolution

And so all six members of class 1-A met on the sports field in their hero costumes, trying to look less nervous than they felt about Ali-chan's possession. Deep in their hearts, they knew the black-haired little schoolgirl wouldn't deliberately do anything to hurt them, but… well, Spike's experience had spoken for itself. Who knew what kind of horrible effects they might suffer?

Then again, if they were allowing her to do it… Well, four of them were, anyway; Spike was having no part of it and, true to his word, had brought a selection of air sickness bags. He pulled them out of the pocket of his costume, a sleeveless dark green shirt with tight black shorts and a pair of scuffed black trainers, and grinned.

"We've got to keep the school clean, right?"

"Where did you even get those?"

"Old man's a pilot. One of the last remaining Quirkless airline flyers." He looked oddly proud of this dubious honour.

"Oh? That's cool. My dad's Quirkless too," said Hima-kun with a smile, adjusting his still-baggy orange and black tracksuit. Miku frowned; she highly doubted that was true, even if Hima-kun wasn't related to All Might. They _had_ to find a way to talk to him.

"Quirkless? I don't mean to be rude, Yamamoto-san, but isn't that dangerous in his line of work? There was that big crash back when All Might debuted; and without his Quirk and the Quirks of people there…"

"You think so, Abe- _san_ , huh? You're the Quirkless expert, are ya? What even is your Quirk?"

"Eh? You didn't see me use it in our rescue exercise? And I might ask you the same thing, Yamamoto-san."

"All right, guys, that's enough." Miku clapped her paws together; Abe-san and Spike looked up guiltily. "This is for Ali-chan's benefit, not for you to start arguing. Unless she makes you, of course. Ali-chan?"

The small girl adjusted her costume nervously. She was kitted out in a pastel pink and yellow version of a Wild Wild Pussycats outfit, complete with massive paws, and looked remarkably similar to her idol Ragdoll – only somehow even cuter.

"No, I'm just going to do some simple tests today. Next time – if there is a next time – I'll do more stuff like that, perhaps even trying to possess more than one person at once."

"Right. So what's the plan?"

Ali-chan frowned. "Let's see…" She pulled out a pack of headache medication and a water bottle from her bag. "Abe-san, Nakahara twins, I'll start with you; Hima-kun, if all goes well we can move on to you. Okay?"

"Okay, you're the boss…"

* * *

Miku sat in one of the empty buildings in the middle of one of UA's cityscapes and fiddled with her earpiece. She hadn't really noticed before, but it was a rather awkward fit for her bunny-shaped ears; she wondered if the support students could fix it for her.

"All right, Ali-chan, all clear."

"Good. Hayate-kun?"

"All clear."

"Abe-san?"

"Perfectly so. Ready on your command."

"All right. I'll start with the first person I can find. For the next minute or so, I would like all three of you to try not to say anything, and I will try to first find someone and then force them to speak."

Miku nodded. She was ready and waiting, just within Ali-chan's one-mile range but not somewhere easily guessable. It would take the girl perhaps a few seconds to search the whole area for the three students in hiding, and perhaps another second for her to take control of the person's body. They would have time to prepare their mental defences, if there were any that could withstand her. The other two, somewhere in the other practice areas within Ali-chan's range, were likely preparing themselves as best they could as she was.

"Hey Ali-chan, maybe you should clench their buttholes just in case!" Spike's cackling voice echoed over the earpiece. "Nakahara-san here already looks like he's shitting himself."

"You're one to talk, _Spew_ -kun." Hayate sounded annoyed. "Why'd you come along if you didn't want to take part, huh?"

"I'm the sick bag man, of course. Everyone got theirs, right?"

Miku sighed and rolled her eyes. "Come on, Spike, this is for the festival. Let's be serious."

"Just joking around, prez."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't. Ali-chan, please continue."

"All right. If you could all prepare yourselves."

Miku closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to calm her quickly beating heart. All she had to do was not say anything. She clamped her mouth shut as tight as she could, and wondered whether she should hold her breath. Just say nothing…

"Your minute starts in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Now."

She held her breath. A few seconds passed. Nothing happened. Then, with a gasp –

"My name is Nakahara Miku. Mmmm—my Quirk is 'R-r-'" she gritted her teeth, trying desperately to stop herself – "'Rabbit', a mmm-mutation Quirk that g-gnh… that gives me the head, abilitiessss… and many of the d-d-distinguishing features of a r-r-rabbit. Aaah… Twenty s-s-secondsss… I have a fff-fff-fluffy tail… gnh… give me lettuce and carrotssss…ten… fffive… one!"

Her mouth snapped shut, and almost immediately blood started to pour from her nose. Her ears rang. She felt light-headed, but was gratified to notice that she was not showing any worse side effects. Perhaps, if you knew what was coming, it wasn't so bad.

"Are – are you all right, Miku-chan? Oh, my head… You did quite well to resist me so stubbornly."

"I'm fine, a little light headed. What on earth was that nonsense you made me say?"

"WHAT? No fair!" Spike was yelling into his earpiece, creating a whine of feedback that increased the ringing in Miku's ears. "I get possessed for one minute and throw up, and you just get a little woozy? That's bullshit!"

"I'm checking up on you Miku-chan, I'll know if it's worse… You liar! You have a nosebleed and your ears are ringing! You need medical attention!"

"I feel fine, I swear. I'm fine to continue the exercise. Besides, if I was worse I wouldn't be talking, would I?"

"She has a point. After all, one way or the other we have to practice, no matter what."

"Well, she's your sister, I suppose. If you're saying it…"

"Hey! Why do you believe him and not me?"

"Come on, let's continue the exercise." Abe-san was sounding remarkably confident now. "We can argue this point more later."

"Yeah, Abe-san is right. We should move on." Miku adjusted her earpiece once again. "Ali-chan, what's the next experiment?"

"Er… This time I'd like to stop someone from speaking. I can't expect you all to speak nonstop for a minute, so which one of you would like to try it?"

"I'll take this," said Hayate. "You never know, the decreased side effects might be genetic or something. That would be ideal…"

"All right. Spike, you're with him, right? Is he ready?"

"As ready as he'll ever be. Here, I'll even hold his ears away from his face."

"No!" Ali-chan yelped suddenly. "Don't touch him, it distracts me!" She took a breath and seemed to calm down. "Hayate-kun, as I mentioned, I would like you to try and talk as much as you can for one minute. Anything you like. I'll try to stop you saying anything."

"Er, what kind of thing?"

"I don't care, recite the English alphabet. Sing Happy Birthday or the national anthem. List all of your favourite heroes and their Quirks. Just something."

"All right, I'll do my best…"

"Okay, in that case, prepare yourself." She waited. "Your minute starts in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Now."

"Earth. Water. Wind. Fire. All lived in - mmmmgh!" He stopped suddenly. Miku heard a few muffled grunts, then a gasp. "In harmo—nnnnnngh…" A few, desperate seconds, then another gasp. "Until the fire nation-nnn…" Thirty seconds remaining. Miku could almost feel the struggle going on as Hayate tried everything to regain control of his body. "Gah! The only person hhhhhh…." Ten seconds. "C-could bring the ffff-mmm…." Two, one.

There was a loud thump.

"Oh, shit!"

"Spike? Is everything okay down there? Hayate-kun, what's going on?"

"It's not good, vice prez…"

Miku's heart sank. "How bad is it?"

Spike's voice shook, despite the cheery way he was trying to talk. "Let me put it this way, Nakahara-chan… Have you ever seen a six-foot-tall hare fainting?"

She sighed. "He's six-two, and no, I don't think I ever have."


	12. Quirk Butler

"Hey! Hayate! Wake up, you ugly _nousagi_! Hello? Stupid _onii-chan_?"

Hayate opened his eyes. Miku was kneeling over him, shaking his shoulder and looking more worried than her words let on.

"Mmmm… Miku? You're here? How…?"

"You fainted, idiot."

"B-but you did really well resisting me!

"Ali-chan? You're here too? How long was I out for?"

"Long enough for both of us to go a mile with worry, silly." Miku frowned.

Hayate tried to sit up. "I'm sorry – agh." He laid down again, thankful for the pillow of cloth someone had laid under his head. He noticed that his earpiece had fallen out.

"I would not advise getting up, Nakahara-san, you may still be suffering the effects."

"Really? I didn't notice, Abe-san." He sighed. "The gang's all here, huh?"

"Not all of us. Hima-kun's just coming now, although I'm not getting a signal from his earpiece."

"I see." He tried to focus. "Are you going to continue the exercise, Ali-chan?"

"W-what? I… maybe. But we have to get you to a stable place first. This rocky area… It's great for hiding, but not so great to fall onto."

"Right. I can't believe I reacted so badly…"

"Oh, it's not so bad," Ali-chan smiled brightly. "When I first did it by accident, my friend Izumi-chan had an epileptic fit and started foaming at the mouth."

They stared at her. Finally, Spike asked the question on anyone's mind. "Why the _fuck_ would you ever attempt to use that again?"

She blushed. "I… thought it was unrelated to the possession, and… well, once I figured it out I thought it was an extreme reaction." She rubbed her neck, trying not to catch Hayate's eye. "And anyway, I still have to practice. Maybe I can improve it so there are no side effects. It's my duty as a hero-in-training to try…"

Hayate groaned and closed his eyes. "You and your practice…"

"I AM HERE… to interrupt!" Everyone jumped. Somehow Faux Might – the name they had all given to Hima-kun's doppelganger form – had arrived while none of them were looking. Hayate opened his eyes again: it seemed to him that the orange and black tracksuit bulged outwards, threatening to burst over the muscled chest. Miku seemed annoyed, and he didn't blame her.

"Good grief, Hima-kun, you're quoting _him_ now? Isn't there a copyright on that phrase?"

Ali-chan looked nervously at the widely smiling young man. "I didn't ask you to transform…"

"Nonsense!" Faux Might gave Hayate a dazzling grin. "I am here to carry you!"

"Really, it's fine. We should call a medic…"

Faux Might knelt without reply down next to Hayate and began to take him in his arms.

"Oh, no. Anything but that. I'll stand up –" Hayate sat up, then fell back again. "Just call them, Hima-kun. You don't need to do this—"

But Faux Might had already picked him up princess-style and was turning back towards the school. Hayate looked back over the massive boy's shoulder with a pleading look to the stunned students, the effect somewhat ruined by the way his eyes kept focusing and un-focusing.

"Please… Someone come with us, at least…" His head fell back down on the massive shoulder. "Don't leave us alone…"

* * *

After a while, Hayate stopped struggling and allowed himself to relax – as much as he could – into Faux Might's muscly arms. The others, despite their best efforts, had not been able to catch up to the powerful stride of the All Might lookalike, having been delayed by… something. The last Hayate had heard was a yelp from Miku followed by a gasp from Ali-chan. He hoped it hadn't been too serious; perhaps one of them had tripped up on the rocky ground and blocked their path.

So, he gave in; there was no point trying to resist when every effort to move left black spots in front of his eyes. He allowed the rise and fall of every step to lull; it was probably best to rest and recover. Even if your rescuer seemed to have turned off his earpiece.

Still, he objected somewhat to being swept off his feet like a blushing bride – not that he had been on his feet in the first place – and it wasn't like they were anything more than friends. Speaking of which…

"Hey, are you sure you're okay in this form? You don't feel the urge to – to throw me out of a window, or crush me underfoot?"

Faux Might looked down at him with his cold-blue gaze. At least, it was probably cold; Hayate blinked and tried to make the spots go away, but couldn't really tell.

"I… that is, Himawari is in control." His eyes flashed; that was easy to see even despite the spots. "For now."

"So… are you two separate personalities?"

"I am something like his subconscious, his… fighting spirit. We share memories and emotions, most of the time."

"Except what?" Hayate felt the massive hands clench slightly around his body.

"Except I'm the one who has to do all this dirty work. _I'm_ the fighter. _I'm_ the one to blame for every stupid thing that happens in battle. I'm not 'controlled enough'. It's always fucking _control_ with him. I never get to have any fucking fun. Not after what I did to Miku and Ali."

Hayate flinched, both at the implications and at the way Faux Might had spat out the two girls' names. Hima-kun was, apparently, no longer the one in control. " _That_ was fun? Throwing my sister out of the window was fun?"

"You know what would have been boring? Tying them up like _he_ wanted to do." Faux Might's grip tightened again, and Hayate felt his skin start to bruise. "But what do I get for my trouble? Fucking meditation classes. Anger management courses. I don't fucking _care_."

Hayate looked around, trying to see how close they were to the main campus, if there was anyone he could signal for help. No luck; of course he had picked the furthest point away from Ali-chan and the school. There was probably at least another half mile to go, if not more.

He wished they had asked a teacher to supervise. Even the disapproving glare of Aizawa-sensei would have been better than this. Maybe if Ali-chan or one of the others checked up on him, they'd realise something was wrong, but… Ali-chan didn't exactly have the authority of a teacher, and besides, she might already have exhausted her Quirk for today.

Faux Might, though, still hadn't finished. "It's not like I want to hurt anybody. I just wanna fucking use all this power. I mean, look at the real All Might. He changed the weather with one punch, and that was just another week for him! I've never been allowed to even _try_ that! I'm just a grunt, and then there's His Peacefulness, the Number 1 Hero. If I could use my full strength… I could surpass him. After all, he's not getting any younger. He'll have to retire, or something, eventually. I could be so much better… But Himawari's all 'control, empathy, _boring_ '. I – if we didn't share a body, he'd be my greatest enemy." He paused. "But then, without me he'd be Quirkless. Not that he doesn't deserve it, but… Dad wouldn't be happy about that. He'd want us to learn everything we could about being a hero…"

"I – I want to be a hero too." Hayate cursed himself. It was a stupid thing to say on a hero course, at a school specifically dedicated to the training of future heroes. "Th-that is, my sister and I have always wanted to be one of those dynamic duos, like… I don't know, Water Hose and people like that. I guess that's why we're here."

Faux Might grunted. "You're right. That is why we're here. Only—" He stared into Hayate's eyes with those cold blue beams of light. "I'm the one who's going to _win_."


	13. Suki! On Ice and Fire

Nezu turned to Aizawa-sensei. "Should we help them? One of their members is unable to walk."

"He'll recover, just like the others. This is the perfect learning opportunity for them all."

"Indeed. Incidentally, are you recording the audio from Sasaki-kun's earpiece to send to his Quirk counsellor?"

"Yes, sir. I'm sure it will provide some very interesting insights. Though, to be honest, sir, I fail to see the need for more Quirk counselling. They've all been through it. I'd say just a normal counsellor is necessary."

"This is a special case, my dear Aizawa-sensei. It is no use giving ordinary counselling to just the Quirk user if his Quirk, too, needs to be counselled. It may also be useful to find a way to release all of that pent-up frustration somehow."

"I can probably think of something, sir. Although we may need to sacrifice some of the practice grounds in the process."

"Well, pick one that Cementoss can rebuild quickly. I trust you to make sure it's away from the festival arena."

"Understood, sir. And… Principal Nezu?"

"What's on your mind?"

"Are we _sure_ the kid's not related to All Might?"

Nezu gave a small mousy smile and threw his paws in the air. "Not at all, my dear Aizawa-sensei! Not at all…"

* * *

In a certain bar tucked away in a certain part of the city, certain heroes are able to relax after a long day or night away from their worries and the press. Tonight was a quiet evening, with one or two patrons sipping at their drinks; at the bar, a solitary pro hero brooded over a beer. In front of him, another two bottles sat empty by his hand.

"Hello, handsome."

The hero glanced dully to his left. "Not interested."

"Oh, well, I tried." The stranger sat down beside the hero and nodded at the bartender. "It would have been fun to… play with a pro hero."

"I'm married."

The other person considered this. "Pity. I heard you found your wife… unsatisfying."

"Look, I'm just here for a drink." As if on cue, the bartender brought the stranger's drink. The stranger paid and took a delicate sip.

"You know, you don't _have_ to talk to me if you don't want to. You could go find a booth or a table. Or just turn your back on me. I wouldn't be offended."

"Yeah, well, I'm tired, okay? It's been a long day."

"Yes, I understand. Striving to be the best is never easy in any profession, and especially not in the hero business."

"You have no idea." He took a swig of his beer moodily.

"It's a shame, really. I've always thought fire was more useful than pure muscle."

The hero flicked his eyes to the left again. It was blatant sweet-talking, but… The stranger smiled at him with a genuine, beautiful smile. For the first time he took in the stranger's figure, paying attention to exactly who was talking.

Medium height, perhaps a little on the small side. Long, luxurious dark hair, flowing gently to the waist. A simple pastel coloured shirt underneath a bluish cardigan. Black pencil skirt and heels – not too high, but just high enough. An understated string of pearls around the neck. He almost chuckled at the remarkably teacher-ish outfit; it wasn't what he had expected from someone like this. A surprisingly pretty face, as well.

"I'm flattered, but I'm not into… that."

"No, I suppose not. Never any time to relax with the little bleeders to think of, is there?"

"You have any?"

"Not that I know of."

The hero snorted. "God help me."

"Well, you can never be too sure these days."

"Not without a great deal of caution."

"Oh, I am _always_ cautious. Up to a point." A wink.

The hero took another slug of beer and grinned. "Yes, up to a point. And I suppose it costs a hell of a lot of money every step of the way, doesn't it?"

"I have no idea what you mean." The stranger smiled coquettishly. "I would never charge someone like _you_. In fact, I'd find it an honour."

"Pull the other one."

The stranger looked injured. "Oh, sir! Really, I am not _that_ kind of woman, not in the least!"

"Not that kind of woman, eh? Very clever. And what kind of man are you?"

"Not that kind of man, either. I only want a little company for the evening. Is that so much to ask?"

The pro hero drained his drink. "Alright, goddamn you. I need something to unwind."

"By all means. There's a little place around the corner that I know. It's a very charitable institution, employing only the completely blind. May I suggest we adjourn there, to discuss the subject in greater detail?"

"Lead the way, er…"

"You may call me Suki. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance… Endeavour."


	14. Hello, Mr Despair

"Well, you just need to rest up a while. Have a gummy." Recovery Girl gave them both a solid glare. "This is what happens when you act without supervision."

Hima-kun, back to his usual self, bowed his head apologetically; Hayate merely blinked his eyes and chewed on the gummy.

"Well, I expect Aizawa-sensei has more to say to you on that subject when the others get back. Meanwhile I have better things to do than look after you; Sasaki-kun, I expect you to keep an eye on this one until he's recovered."

"Yes'm."

"Good boy. You can have a gummy too." With that, she bustled off, looking both worried and annoyed.

Hima-kun sat next to Hayate's bed and sighed.

"Hayate-kun?"

"Yes?"

"I… I'm sorry. For the things I… he said."

Hayate gave a weak smile and twitched his ears. "Well, it was certainly an interesting way to get to know you — him."

Hima-kun groaned. "The worst thing is, I can remember every single word of it. I remember every emotion that I felt, every moment of his existence." He put his head in his hands. "I felt completely justified in everything I said. I remember every single sensation."

He gave a hoarse chuckle and looked sidelong at Hayate. "D'you know, at one point I even felt you flinch? And I knew I could snap you in half without thinking of it. I was enjoying it. I enjoyed the power. I _wanted_ to hurt someone. I thought I didn't but I did. I… I can't control that. I can't control _him_." He sighed again. "I was stupid to think I ever could, even for something as simple as this… He's just not suited for hero work."

Hayate said nothing, and wondered why both Hima-kun and Faux Might had got so talkative today.

* * *

Suki looked ruefully at the singed and ashy sheets. It would cost a fortune to replace all of this as well as making sure the 'blind' staff stayed blind. That was the thing with this sort of place, they would look right past you until you cost them money. Oh well. There was plenty of cash in the handbag on the nightstand. They'd understand that, at least.

Endeavour had left early that morning, trying to avoid the gaze of both Suki and the staff. He needn't have bothered; Suki was very particular about erasing any records that might exist. It was better that way, for everyone.

Suki had told Endeavour a sweetly traumatic story about being diagnosed Quirkless, the same story everyone heard about Suki. About the many years of loneliness and stigma. It usually got a few sympathy points, especially from any heroes Suki happened to meet. One hero, many years ago, had even cried and promised to help Suki in any way she could; it hadn't happened. Endeavour, last night, had simply grunted. Somehow, Suki preferred it that way.

Of course, the story was almost true. At any rate, Suki did not have a flashy Quirk that might have been of some use – not according to the rest of society.

Suki took a small vial out of the handbag and began, methodically, to comb over the bad and the floor. With a hero like Endeavor, there wouldn't be any stray hairs around the place; Master had been right about that. There would be other ways of getting what Suki wanted.

Bingo.

Suki scooped the DNA sample into the vial, resealing it so that nothing spilled. There. Now Suki could add a strand of hair in private so that the real Quirk work could begin.

Suki left, making sure to leave an extra-large wad of cash to pay for the room. It was a small price to pay for what Suki had planned.

 _To: "Quirk Eater"_

 _I have caught fire at last. I am ready to use my Quirk on your command._

 _Your "Cloner", Suki_

 _To: Todoroki Enji, aka 'Endeavour'_

 _I would like to extend my deepest gratitude for the great service you performed for me in recent times, and the excellent heroism you displayed on all counts. I was in awe at the skill and passion of such an excellent professional hero in all of the relevant situations._

 _If it is not too much trouble, may I have an autograph in the provided stamped and addressed envelope? Please sign it 'to Suki' if you would be so good._

 _From your great admirer,_

 _'Suki', aka Sasaki Susumu_


	15. God's Blessing on this Wonderful Quirk!

"And the moral of this story is…?"

"We shouldn't have gone without a teacher."

"Exactly. Especially when practicing with a Quirk like Naito's. You know what kind of effects it can have." Aizawa-sensei glared at them. "I understand you all want to practice for the exam, but I would have expected you to at least _try_ to be cautious."

"Yes, sensei. Understood."

"Especially you, Nakahara Miku. I would have expected you to know when to ask for help rather than try and take care of it yourself."

"Yes, sensei. I will take responsibility for my classmates' actions."

"You should each take responsibility for your own." He gave a long, hard, stare to each of the members of 1-A in turn. "As it stands, two of you suffered the side effects of Naito's possession without being properly prepared for such an enterprise, and Sasaki was forced to use his Quirk, which as you all well know is dangerous in and of itself. He is at UA, in part, specifically to learn how to control this Quirk in controlled environments. As you all are. I should expel every one of you."

There was an awful silence.

"But," Aizawa went on, "you were practicing and experimenting in order to improve your skills. You also demonstrated good rescue and first-aid skills and managed to stay calm even though your comrades were affected. If this had been a supervised exercise, you would all have done very well. So I will keep everyone on. Next time, however, you will not be so lucky."

There was a small chorus of muffled "yes, sensei"s, and his facial expression became a little less forbidding.

"Good." He gave a small sigh – or was it a yawn? "Now, let's analyse your little exercise, shall we?" Class 1-A looked up at him in surprise. Wouldn't this take up valuable class time?

It was homeroom, the day after the 'fainting incident'. After hearing several choice words about how lucky they were not to have been in public, or some place even further away from civilization – "you don't even have provisional licences, you could have been arrested" – they had expected Aizawa-sensei to continue his by-now well-established tradition of brutal expulsions. But, clearly, it was not to be.

"So, let's start with Yamamoto. Can anyone tell me what he did right to prepare for such an exercise?"

Miku raised her hand. "He had planned ahead and brought sick bags in case of some of the side effects that Ali-chan's Quirk had caused up to that point."

"Good, and?"

"He stayed with someone else in case of an accident," said Abe-san, "which was useful, as he could look after Nakahara-san after he fainted."

"Correct. Next time I would advise you to stay in teams of two or more so that you can easily respond to any emergency." _Next time?_ But Aizawa-sensei apparently thought nothing of it, and continued speaking. "Now, what of Naito? What did she do well or badly?"

"Well, she could have told us about the more serious side effects like epilepsy beforehand, couldn't she?" asked Spike, still bitter about the omission. "One of us could have been seriously injured if we'd had a bad fall."

"To be fair, she did recommend us to sit cross-legged with our eyes closed to maximise balance," said Miku defensively.

"In a rocky area like that," Aizawa-sensei declared sharply, "and in areas with a lot of cement and sharp edges, an epileptic fit can indeed be fatal. Next time, Naito – and everyone else – I recommend your subjects lie down with their head and neck cushioned and their limbs secure, unless there is no way to do so." Ali-chan shrank a little. "Oh, incidentally, Naito, did either of the experiments help you?"

She looked up once more, this time with an odd light in her eyes. "Yes, sensei! I learned that it's equally easy to force someone to say something and to stop them saying something. However, I would say both are more difficult when the subject is actively resisting me." She paused, and a thought seemed to occur to her. "This may be why Hayate-kun was worse affected than his twin – I was forced to close his windpipe several times."

Hayate turned pale under his fur and stroked his throat. No wonder he had passed out, then; it was a wonder she hadn't suffocated him. And if so, no wonder the teachers were angry…

"I would advise not doing that," said Aizawa-sensei, winning the top prize for Understatement of the Year. "Next time you should find another way."

"Yes, sensei. I'll try to think of something."

"Good. Then let's move on and analyse Miku next. Anyone?"

Once again Abe-san had something to say: "She kept us on task while we were organising ourselves and during the exercise."

"Indeed. Her leadership skills were exemplary."

"I can't take all the credit, Aizawa-sensei, Ali-chan was the most helpful after Hayate fainted. She was the one who called on Hima-kun for help."

"That would have been an excellent plan if you had been on your own away from civilisation and had no other options. Nakahara Hayate, any thoughts?"

"They… should have called for help from the school."

Aizawa-sensei nodded. "And what about Sasaki?"

Hayate thought. "It wasn;t a good idea to let him transform. He – his Quirk makes him more malicious, and they shouldn't have let him go on ahead with me in case he…" He swallowed, and Aizawa-sensei finished his sentence.

"In case he really did crush you. What other options did they have?"

"Well, calling a teacher, of course. Or… Abe-san could have used some of the badages on his costume for a makeshift stretcher, and then they could have carried me if not, they could have made sure at least one other unaffected person went with Hima-kun and I."

"Yes. Abe, what stopped the four of you from keeping up?"

Abe-san frowned. "Unfortunately, Nakahara-san started having another violent nosebleed just as we realised what was going on. She nearly collapsed, and we had to steady her."

"You could have sent one person ahead to join Sasaki. Yamamoto for example."

Spike shook his head. "The whole thing took all of us by surprise, sir. By the time everything had settled down such that I could have run ahead, Hima-kun was too far out of sight. There's no way any of us could have caught up to him, and Miku-chan was still bleeding."

"Really. You couldn't have used your earpieces and told him to wait for you."

This time Hima-kun spoke up, looking ashamed. "I don't think he… that is, I don't think I would have listened to them. In fact, with that attitude I might have become even more violent."

Aizawa-sensei sighed. "Then you shouldn't have transformed in the first place."

"I know that now, sensei. I thought I could control it sufficiently to ensure his safety, but…"

"Indeed. And none of you tried to stop him, either, despite Nakahara's protests. The most you lot did was useless babbling."

The class bowed their gheads repentantly. It was true, they could have handled the excersise much better. But hindsight is always 20/20.

"Sensei," asked Miku after a moment, "do you think Ali-chan could have taken control of Hima-kun while he was transformed?"

"That might have been a sensible compromise, true. What do you think, Naito?"

Ali-chan considered it. "Honestly, I'd have to try it to be sure, but theoretically… But I'm not sure how Quirks interact with my possession. I've only been a passenger while people have used their Quirks previously, I'm not sure how it would work if I was an active participant."

Aizawa-sensei grinned horribly. "Let's find out, shall we?"


	16. Cloth Metal Alchemist

In the middle of the sports field, the members of class 1-A sat in a circle, overseen by Aizawa-sensei with his arms folded. Spike, of course, had been reluctant, but hadn't wanted to contradict the cold, red eyes of their terrifying teacher.

"All right, Naito. Star with Abe. Abe, cut a piece of cloth from your costume for her to practice your Quirk on."

Abe-san obeyed and held the piece of cotton loosely in one hand.

"Nakahara twins, come up and make sure Abe is secure."

They obeyed solemnly, making sure Abe-san was lying comfortably on one side on the pillows they had prepared. Miku sat by his head with an airsickness bag and cleaning cloths; Hayate knelt ready to hold onto his hands.

"Naito? Are you ready?"

Ali-chan smiled, sitting comfortably in the lotus position as she always did when using her Quirk. "Ready on your signal."

"All right. Prepare yourselves. If Naito cannot use his Quirk by the end of one minute, we will more on."

Abe-san, his eyes hidden under his oval-shaped glasses, seemed to make an effort to relax his body. Ali-chan closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Aizawa-sensei looked at his stopwatch.

"Starting in 10, 9, 8, 7 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

Abe-san's hand twitched. He brought the square of cloth up to his face and seemed to be studying it intently. Then, with a grunt of effort –

"Holy shit."

"Language, Yamamoto."

"Sorry."

The piece of cloth had suddenly twisted into a thin, grey sheet of stone.

"Now, Naito, return the cloth to its original state—" Instantly the piece of cloth flopped back into Abe-san's hand. "Now try a different material."

This time, Abe-san was holding a small square of wood, looking almost freshly cut from the wood itself.

"Then, one more material, if you please."

The piece of cloth came and went. Ali-chan was clearly wondering the same thing as everyone else; her final choice was a large, flat crystal, completely flawless and transparent with a few slightly jagged edges. A familiar smile crossed Abe-san's lips.

"All right, Naito, that's enough. Turn it back and I'll count you down for the release." The cloth returned. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1." Abe-san gasped and doubled up into a fit of coughing; the twins immediately sat him up and tried to help him breathe.

"He's coughing blood!" Indeed, ta thin stream of blood was beginning to leak from Abe-san's mouth; his eyes were streaming behind his glasses and his nose was dripping as he fought for air. Aizawa-sensei bent down next to the boy and began calmly rubbing his back in tandem with Hayate until his breathing clamed, his costume spattered with blood and his face dripping with sweat and tears. He was running a fever and seemed on the verge of unconsciousness.

"Nakahara, if you could." Hayate nodded and stood Abe-san up, allowing the smaller boy to lean on him as they made their way back towards the main building.

"Oh, that was amazing!" Ali-chan's face was flushed, her eyes wide with pleasure. "I didn't know trying someone else's Quirk would be so fun! Oh, I want to try that again!"

"Congratulations, Naito. I think it's safe to say the experiment was a success."

"Yeah! Was that a _diamond_ just then?"

Ali-chan smiled modestly. "It was just a very smooth piece of quartz, really. But I think I could do a diamond, if Abe-san would allow it."

"So would you say you had the same range of materials that Abe has demonstrated? For example, his Quirk record shows that he has turned cotton into silk and can transmute cloth into all manner of different wood and mineral products."

"I… don't think I could do that much. Just the basics, unless Abe-san allows me to practice more. I don't blame him if he doesn't."

"Right. The main thing is, you can indeed activate someone else's Quirk through possession, even if only for a short time. That may be a very useful skill to have in some situations, and I think you will be able to update your Quirk registry if you so desire."

"Sensei, would you still be able to erase someone's Quirk if I was possessing them and forcing them to use it?"

"That's a good question, Naito. Shall we try and find out before we move onto Sasaki?"

There was a groan from Spike, but before he could say anything else Hayate re-joined the group, his ears pricked up and his eyes bright to see what Ali-chan could do.

Aizawa-sensei turned towards Spike, facing him head on. "All right, Yamamoto, you're up. Last time you threw up, correct?"

"Yes, sir," Spike nodded miserably, "and I felt really awful and sick for about an hour afterwards."

"But you probably aren't at risk of an epileptic fit, so you can sit up and have a bag ready for when you are released."

"Yes, sensei…"

"This is going to be really helpful, Spike," said Ali-chan cheerfully, "and you never know, you might have milder symptoms the second time."

"Might?"

"Well, I've never done it on the same person twice before…"

"That's not comforting at all!"

Ali-chan took a sip of water and a headache tablet. "You should feel honoured, you'll be the first."

"I'm not sure if I want that honour…"

"All right, Yamamoto, that's enough. Nakahara twins, stay by his side as you did for Abe. But not too close this time. Yamamoto's Quirk is not as tame as Abe's is. Just be ready for when he is released." They nodded and obeyed.

"Naito, Yamamoto, prepare yourselves." Spike gulped and tried to take deep breaths, while Ali-chan readjusted her position before closing her eyes.

"I will once again give you one minute to possess him and activate his Quirk before I tell you to release. At some point, I will attempt to erase his Quirk in order to stop you. Starting in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

Spike balled his fists. His eyes began to flick from side so side, as if he was searching for something; then, with a sudden "Ha!", he had produced a large spike from the middle knuckle of his right hand.

"Very good. Try retracting it. And next time, try not to give us the finger, please." With a smooth motion, the spike shrank back into Spike's skin as if it had never been there. "Try multiple."

Spike twitched his right arm; a row of foot-long spikes sprang out in a line from his wrist to his elbow. A moment later, they were gone again.

"Now try several limbs at once. This time I will use my Quirk before you retract them."

At once, spikes sprang from both shoulders and knees, and a fifth leapt from his chest, tearing his costume. Aizawa-sensei's eyes flashed – and Spike's skin was as smooth as ever, leaving only a two-inch wide hole in the front of his costume.

"Good. That means you can release him in 6, 5, 4, 3 –" Hayate and Miku moved closer to Spike and held an airsickness bag close to his face – "2, 1."

Spike was released. The side effects were not any milder the second time.


	17. Attack on Titan Might

There were four of them left now. Aizawa-sensei looked carefully at Ali-chan. "Are you all right to continue this exercise to the end, Naito?"

She nodded, a strange exhilaration showing on her tired face. She was beginning to look a bit pale: the possession practice was taking its toll, especially with the addition of Quirks into the mix. Miku wondered whether she would suffer any further log-term effects.

"And Sasaki, are you certain you wish to try this? If you feel your Quirk is too unreliable –"

Hima-kun shook his head grimly. "No, it's fine. I want to undertake this. But – sensei?"

"What is it?"

"If it turns out that… that Ali-chan can't control my Quirk, could you please erase it before… before he does any damage?"

"I would have done anyway. You are still struggling to gain full control of… him."

"Thank you."

Aizawa-sensei nodded. "Let's begin then. Your side effects are…"

"Severe dizziness and weakness such that I am barely able to stand, unless I activate my Quirk."

"Hmmm. I had planned to ask Naito to perform a few simple tasks with your Quirk activated, but it would require you to stand, and if you feel unable… Naito, perhaps you should make him sit down in the last few seconds before you release him."

"Yes, sensei, I'll try."

"All right. Nakahare Hayate, as soon as the minute is up you can run and get a stretcher, if we need it."

"Yes, sensei."

"Good. Sasaki, Naito, prepare yourselves."

Hima-kun breathed deeply, and once more Ali-chan closed her eyes.

"Your minute starts in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

Hima-kun stood up and began flexing his scrawny muscles experimentally. Then his face began to change – his bones appeared to lengthen – his muscles grew and bulged. His hair stuck up in its two signature bunny ears. And then –

Ali-chan was knocked back by an invisible force, landing on the ground; this time she was the one gasping for air.

"Ali-chan!" Miku ran up to her,her face suddenly pale under her fur.

Aizawa-sensei, however, was looking at the perfectly toned young man before him, for once with a look of surprise on his face. In an instant, he had recovered; there was a flash of red and Hima-kun began to shrink back to normal size. He turned to Ali-chan. "Naito! Are you all right?"

The dark-haired girl nodded, her face white, and gave a small, weak smile.

Hima-kun blinked and ran up to to her. "I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened – was it – did he –"

"I… don't know. It was weird, like… As soon as he… became himself, it was if I was underage at a club, and he was the bouncer. I've never-ever –"

"It's not your fault, either of you. There was no way anyone could have predicted that Sasaki's Quirk was resistant. You only discovered your possession powers recently, anyway, Naito, there's no knowing its full capabilities or limits yet."

Ali-chan nodded. "I don't know if… perhaps if her was already transformed when I possessed him I could do it."

Aizawa-sensei frowned. "You are aware of the problems with that?"

She swallowed, hard. "Yes, sensei. I understand."

"Sasaki, the decision is up to you."

"It's worth a try, isn't it?"

"Hmmm. Perhaps. Do you think his reaction to it will be the same?"

"I don't know. So far transforming makes all the side effects go away."

"You didn't appear to have any this time, either. So perhaps we can risk… no, Naito had better sit him down as we were planning."

Ali-chan nodded seriously.

"Then, if you please, Sasaki, Naito…"

Hima-kun and Ali-chan sat back where they had been.

"Nakaharas, one of you stand by Naito and the other by Sasaki. That's right." Miku touched Ali-chan on the shoulder with a comforting smile; Hayate sat next to Hima-kun with a nod.

Aizawa-sensei folded his arms, making sure that he was facing Hima-kun directly. "On my first signal, Sasaki, you transform, then I will count Naito in after five seconds. Don't do anything unless I tell you to, either of you."

"R-right."

"Once again, I will limit you to one minute's possession. We begin in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

Hima-kun transformed and the well-muscled All Might doppelganger was sitting in front of them, looking rather out of place next to the now much smaller Hayate.

"Naito, take over in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

There was a brief moment of struggle. An odd expression crossed the imitation hero's face and for a terrible moment –

"I am here, being possessed!"

Hayate let out a breath. "You really couldn't resist, huh, Ali-chan?" In front of him, Aizawa-sensei was looking more pleased than he'd ever seen him. Not that that was saying much, of course…

"Very good, Naito. Now stand and run to the edge of the field and back."

With an almost audible _whoosh_ , Faux Might was off; Hayate saw a blur flash towards the white line at the edge of the field. A brief after-image touched the ground; then the giant man-boy was back, sitting almost demurely on the ground.

"Now jump to the top of that building and back."

There was a crack; a small crater appeared in the sports field where Faux Might had been sitting. High above, a small speck was falling gracefully towards the top of the building. It landed, the smallish figure kicking up a cloud of dust. An instant later, he had leaped again; a shadow bore down on them as he fell. He made a perfect hero landing, solidly in the exact centre of the crater he had created with one fist on the ground, on one knee as if he was just getting up. His clear blue eyes burnt from under his thick, orange-yellow eyebrows.

"Excellent." There was an odd gleam in Aizawa-sensei's eyes, one not caused using his Quirk. He smiled, and it was the most terrifying thing Hayate had seen that day. "See if you can punch a hole in the ground."

The mountain of muscle stepped forward onto the smooth surface and balled up his fist.

"North Dakota SMASH!"

There was a boom, and the next second Faux Might was holding up a piece of concrete the size of Hayate's head; a corresponding hole in front of the muscly boy's feet was only just beginning to smoke gently. The piercing blue shined forth from his un-shadowed eyes and Hayate swallowed. So much for the most terrifying thing he had seen all day. This person, who seemed to have a grudge against mankind, who could destroy the ground just by jumping – this person had carried him? This person was aiming to be a hero? Ther was no telling what such a personmight do. It did not seem surprising, at that moment, that hima-kun was still struggling for control despite presumably having had this Quirk for a long time. God, that would have been terrifying. A child with the strength of a superhuman…

"That will be all, Naito. You may release in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

Ali-chan opened her eyes. "Oh, my god…"

"Sasaki, please de-transform in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

Faux Might blinked and tipped his head, an oddly innocent smile on his face. "But Aizawa- _sensei_ , don't you have anything else for me to do? I was having so much fun."

"No, Sasaki, nothing else, thank you. We can experiment with your powers in another exercise."

The seven-foot-tall orange-haired boy took a leisurely step forward, still with the piece of concrete hefted in his hand. A small crack appeared beneath his right foot. "Do you know why I let her do that, _sensei_?"

Aizawa-sensei stared at him calmly, not moving a muscle.

"Are you trying to threaten me, Sasaki?"

Again, Faux Might took a step forward. Another crack.

"I let her do that, _sensei,_ because I wanted to experience it. So I let her ride along, thinking she was in control. Just like I pretend Himawari is in control. As if either of them ever could." He raised the concrete high above his head. "But I'm bored now. I want to do something _real_."

Aizawa-sensei raised an eyebrow casually. "So you are threatening me. In that case –"

Faux Might's hand moved. Aizawa jumped out of the way of the speeding lump of concrete. His hair flew up – there was a flash of red light –

Hima-kun shrank back to his ordinary self. Beside him, Ali-chan suddenly began to shake.


	18. UA Ghoul

"What we learned today," said Aizawa-sensei calmly, looking each of them in the eye, "is that Sasaki's Quirk is resistant to Naito's possession where most, if not all other Quirks are susceptible. For whatever reason, there are very few ways to control it – him – that we can rely on."

Hima-kun let out an unhappy whimper.

"From now on, I would like you to be extra careful not to require Sasaki to use his Quirk unless I or another teacher am with you. Sasaki, it goes without saying, but you should not use your Quirk in public under any circumstances."

"But – sensei – the festival –"

"I will procure a special dispensation for you join the business course for that day, so that you can be a non-competing participant. If we figure out a way to manage your Quirk before then, of course, that may change; for now, we need to focus on minimizing the danger to others."

"Understood." The skinny boy looked about to burst into tears.

"The rest of you performed very well. Nakahara twins, your conduct of care for the other students was exemplary. Naito, you performed each experiment with a high level of professionalism. Yamamoto and Abe, well done on following my instructions so accurately and for being willing to undergo the side effects. And Sasaki, you also did well right up until the point you tried to kill me."

"Yes, sensei. Sorry, sensei."

"I've faced worse." Was it Hayate's imagination, or did a small smile cross the recalcitrant teacher's lips? "Though never from All Might himself, of course."

Hima-kun sank even lower in his chair. But Spike had perked up: "All Might? Have you met the real All Might, sensei? Have you worked with him? What's he like in person?"

Aizawa-sensei snorted. "No. I work in ambush-type missions mainly. The _real_ All Might would never work with the likes of me."

Hayate and Miku shared a glance. Hayate wondered about the man they had seen that day, the carbon copy of Hima-kun. Was he the real All Might? If so, what reason did he have to visit UA if it was populated by the likes of Aizawa-sensei? Would he – could he ever work in a place like this? And then there was Hima-kun himself… They really needed to talk to him.

* * *

"Banning Sasaki from participating seems like a pretty drastic measure, Aizawa-sensei."

"Drastic measures are something of my speciality, sir. Besides, he did try to kill me. I very much doubt a person like that can be convinced to play nice for our petty sports festival."

"You do have the ability to erase his Quirk, do you not?"

"I can't keep an eye on him throughout the entire festival. He may even specifically target me to prevent himself being erased. And before you ask, Naito cannot control his Quirk either."

"This is a school, you know. We are specifically here to help students train their minds and Quirks for their future careers. And if he doesn't get a chance to participate, he loses valuable experience, and it has a knock-on effect in later times… You are aware of all this, I trust."

"Yes, sir. I will continue to look for other options."

Principal Nezu sighed and shrugged. "Very well. He may join the business course for that day, until we can think of something better."

"Thank you." Aizawa-sensei sighed. "Perhaps if we had some insight from the real thing…"

"Well, of course, that's a little tricky. The number 1 hero doesn't have time to come down and give a student a few pointers. Yet."

The Erasure Hero blinked. "Yet?"

"I'm thinking of employing him next year." Principal Nezu smiled cheerfully at the stunned Aizawa-sensei. "It seems he wishes to settle down somewhat."

"…Wonders never cease, sir."

"Indeed."


	19. UA High School Host Club

The class – at least, most of them, Hima-kun had had a counselling session – sat around the lunch table, all together in a more casual setting for once.

"I can't believe you only discovered your possession ability a few months ago. I was running around putting spikes in stuff in nursery school."

Ali-chan shrugged. "Well, I thought the ability to borrow other peoples' senses would be useful enough. I didn't think of trying full possession until shortly before the entrance exam."

"Unbelievable. And of course, you had to try it on us afterwards, as if you couldn't have murdered us all."

The dark-haired girl smiled slightly. "What about you, Abe-san? When did you get yours?"

"Oh, at about the same age as everyone else, around four years old." Abe-san adjusted his glasses. "But it took me a long time to get the diversity of material I have now."

"And you two – oh, you're mutation types."

Miku nodded eagerly. "Yes, we were both born like this. Apart from the head and limbs, our anatomy is the same as yours."

"Well, almost. I could jump around almost immediately, which is unusual for humans. And you were born blind, of course."

"Of – of course?" Ali-chan looked a little worried.

"Well, don't babies always have worse vision at birth? Rabbits like me just take that to the extreme."

"I… suppose so…" She shook her head in amazement. "But your parents, they're not –"

"They have slightly different animal Quirks. Apparently it looks a little unconventional to everyone else, since our mother is a hamster, our father is a fox, and our brother is a kangaroo."

"Whoah… that's so… cool? And a little weird…"

"I knew you'd say that… What about you, Spike, Ali-chan? Do you have any siblings?"

Spike shook his head and grinned. "Nah, the folks had enough trouble with me for a lifetime. I'm pretty sure there are still a few two-inch holes in my bed…"

The others looked at each other nervously. Now that they had seen his Quirk, Spike seemed like a much more formidable opponent…

"Well," said Ali-chan after a moment, "I have an older sister, but she's overseas."

"Really? What does she do then?"

"Ah… she… is a government worker. Her Quirk is Lie-Detecting, and almost everything she does is classified…"

"Whoah. That's some serious spy shit." Spike looked impressed.

Miku decided to change the subject.

"What about you, Abe-san?"

The dark-haired boy shook his head. "No, my parents divorced when I was quite young." He shrugged, and suddenly seemed a lot more like an ordinary student rather than the serious persona he had been putting on. "My mother said it wasn't to be."

* * *

And so the day of the festival came around at last.

The day was slightly gloomy, overcast with greyish but fast-moving clouds. People began to file towards the school quite early with umbrellas; media, perhaps, and general spectators including parents.

Miku and Hayate met Hima-kun at the gates of the school, along with a stranger who was looking at them with an oddly calculating gaze.

"Oh! Hayate-kun! Miku-chan! Hello! These are the new friends I was telling you about, Father." He waved towards the twins as they came closer. "Nakahara twins, this is my dad."

The stranger – who, now that Hayate looked closer, was indeed a man – nodded at them. "Sasaki Susumu, at your service. I've heard so much about you two." He smiled. "I thought I'd come along to wish everyone good luck."

He was, more or less, exactly opposite in looks and general demeanour to the usually sunny Hima-kun. For a start, he had long black hair to rival Aizawa-sensei's, pulled back in a ponytail, with a thick, triangular fringe flopping over his greyish eyes; he was slim rather than scrawny, and stood with a hand on his hip. Then, of course, there was his dress, a sweet little flower-patterned sundress paired with yellow sandals that seemed completely unsuited to the weather – Hima-kun was not the sort of kid to wear make-up, even if it was expertly applied.

There was something else, though; something odd… A much more sinister side of Sasaki-san senior's personality that seemed to be hiding below the surface. Hayate wasn't sure why, but it reminded him of Faux Might. Something about the look in the eyes…

Hima-kun smiled brightly at the twins, his honest face betraying not a shred of suspicion. "Well, we'd better get going, huh? Don't want to miss my big debut as a business student…"

"Yes, we should. It was nice meeting you, Sasaki-san."

"Likewise. Enjoy your festival, all of you, and… I'll be cheering for you."

Hayate shuddered as they turned away towards the arena and wondered why that phrase had sounded like a threat.


	20. Quirk Art Online

The First Challenge: The Trapped Maze

Miku stood at the centre of the maze with the rest of the participating first-year classes. Beside her, Hayate was rubbing his left ear nervously; who knew what kind of Quirks the others might have. She hadn't even met any of class 1-B, even though the two classes probably could have worked together at some point since the beginning of term; for some reason Aizawa-sensei had not organised a team-up with anyone else. Perhaps he preferred a more focused class.

There were not that many more mutant-types in sight, she noticed: a boy with yellow skin, a girl with ridiculously long arms and legs, some kid with tentacle hair… It seemed like a very small group in the first place; Aizawa-sensei's pruning and swapping had made a noticeable difference.

"ALL RIGHT LISTENERS!" Present Mic's distinctive yell echoed around the stadium and through the speakers at the entrances to the maze. "It's time for the first task to start! You all know the rules – no teamwork and don't die! So let's get on with it!" The buzzer went, and the tunnels opened up all around the group of uniformed students.

The first trap: choosing a tunnel to take. Apparently, all of them got to the arena eventually, but some of them were much longer, and not necessarily the ones you might expect. The crowd of students dispersed in all directions; Miku dashed on all fours to the nearest entrance, quickly leaving the slower students behind. She could see Hayate already entering a different tunnel; they had agreed not to got in each other's way. Neither of them wanted to share the glory if they didn't have to. And of course, as Mic had put it so poetically, this was an individual exercise.

She reached the entrance she had been aiming for and passed through into the shadowed tunnel of the maze, slowing down a little to check for the traps that she knew might be there. Almost immediately the tunnel split in two; she hesitated slightly, but could see the other students coming fast on her heels behind her. She took the left path.

It was a long corridor with a few small openings in the roof for light and air; a dusty path was marked out along the floor. She hopped forward carefully.

Nothing. Nothing. _Click._

She sprang forwards, just in the nick of time: a large net swooped up from the floor brushing at her tail as she went. It seemed to have a recoil, however; just as she was about to move on it began to lower again. By the time she reached the end of the corridor it was back in its place, almost invisible of the dusty floor.

Someone here was really good at traps…

A right turn, then straight through a crossroads before she reached another long corridor. By now all the sounds of the other first year classes were muffled; a few shouts and booms signalled their progress through the maze. She walked on all fours carefully along the floor, her ears pricked up and her nostrils twitching in every direction trying to sense where the next trap might come from.

The floor shook with the force of another explosion. Were there mines in the maze? Or were there –

Another motion under her feet, and suddenly she saw a black line opening up on her left. Oh no… She dashed forward, the ground beneath her opening up and beginning to tip towards the centre – a gleam of metal – she jumped and stretched out as far as she could, managing to grab onto the solid piece of floor in front of her. Below, the floor had finished opening: a pit of spikes longer than even Spike could hope to produce gleamed in the dim half-light. She held on to the ledge and began to search for any available footing on the wall of the pit. No luck; in fact, it almost felt as if it had been greased. Because of course it had. She looked around, her almost 360-degree sight range taking in the massive pit around her; the spikes came right up to the wall, and there were no other footholds to be seen.

Two other first-years came into the corridor and stopped at the edge of the pit. Miku saw them muttering between themselves and knew she had to do something, to get a high place and do justice to the reputation of 1-A…

She took a deep breath and looked down. There was a spike just beside her foot; if she could just use that – if her shoe was thick enough…

She stepped on the spike, using it to lever herself up onto the solid ground. It wasn't graceful, and her foot was bleeding, but she didn't care. It was time to move on.

A left, a right, and another left. How long was this maze anyway? How could they have made something so big and complicated in such a short time? They must have been planning this for months.

She came to another crossroads, still limping slightly, and paused. There was an odd clanking noise to her right…

A robot turned the corner, coming towards her. It was a small one, a two-pointer from the exam, its beady camera-eyes already focusing on her. Most likely it would just keep following her; she wouldn't be surprised if it was immune to the traps as well. Miku tensed and got into a crouch: there was no escaping a fight. Suddenly, she remembered that first heroes-and-villains exercise and smiled.

Onto the wall on one side; then, a jump towards one of the robot's flailing limbs. She flipped over it, grabbing on, and as she fell pulled the robot down with her. As she landed, she swung the robot over her head –

It smashed to bits against the wall and she jumped over it with a grin. If she didn't get lost, she might even get in the top ten…

A left, a left, a right… A dead end.

She turned back, right, then left into one final long corridor with no holes in the roof; the darkness almost made it seem like another dead end. Was that a dim light at the end, or was it a slightly paler wall?

There was only one way to find out. Footsteps echoed somewhere in the distance; she crept forward into the dark. There was an odd smell in the air, something like burnt grass and metal. She stepped forward.

 _Click._

Miku jumped back, the fur on her cheek singed; a blue laser had appeared directly across her path. Behind it, a whole array of blue lines had appeared, crisscrossing and interlacing in a long section of the corridor.

Slowly, carefully, Miku started winding her way through the web of lasers. Under, over, left, right, between those two – ouch! – through that gap, over, under that, crawl…

She stood up at the end of the corridor, wincing, and stretched a little. The corridor split into two going in opposite directions. She sniffed. Was that a breeze, blowing from one side? Was that a little extra light coming from the other direction?

Her ears pricked up. There was a cheer coming from somewhere; probably the stadium. She listened closer, closer…

In another instant she was speeding on all fours towards the right-hand path. She heard the cheering louder and louder – the tunnel widening and lightening – and then she was out, victorious, into the bright and noisy arena, full of excitement and hope for the second round. In front of her, she could see Spike already looking smug; behind her she heard Hayate's familiar footsteps from another door. The crowd was going wild…


	21. Food Quirk Wars

"Did you get any of those mines? They were lethal!"

"What? Mines? I got quicksand on my second corridor."

"There was a corridor with fire vents as well. If I hadn't made my costume fireproof…"

"No way… The worst I got was lasers."

"But you did get a robot, right?"

"Yeah, it probably blocked people's way…"

"There must have been tons of them. How much money does this school have?"

The last few students, mostly from the General Education courses, were staggering into the stadium, looking unhappy and probably wishing they could be selling sodas like Hima-kun and the rest of the business course.

The five participating members of 1-A were discussing the results of the maze. Surprising to everyone, Spike – not a particularly fast runner – had come first, in front of even Miku and Hayate. Apparently, if you could cling to the walls with foot-long spikes, you wouldn't set off any of the traps, and you could focus on finding your way out.

Miku and Hayate, of course, had come second and third; not only were they faster and more agile than the average person, their heightened senses gave them extra opportunities to react quickly. The only difference was that Hayate had come across one more robot and had struggled in the quicksand.

Abe Shiori had come in eleventh, after a few members of class 1-B; although his Quirk was not entirely suited to the maze, Cloth Transmutation had apparently come in useful to defend against the fire vents where everyone else had been forced to fall back.

The last of all the class had been Ali-chan. She had not been able to use anyone else's vision to find her way, as everyone quickly split up into their own paths; there wouldn't have been any advantage to her trying to possess anyone. She had come in thirty-second, behind the rest of class 1-B, and had struggled for every minutely small advantage. It was, at least, much higher than any of her old General Education classmates apart from Spike.

* * *

"Sodas! Snacks! Yo, people, come an' gettem!" Meguno Naomi waved at the passing spectators. "Tell your friends!" He turned to Hima-kun and grinned wickedly. "Bet you never thought you'd be doing this kind of work when you signed up for a hero course, huh, Sasaki-san? Not that we're doing great business today…"

Hima-kun shrugged. "Can't be helped, I guess." He noticed a group of punters heading towards them and put on his best customer service smile. "Can I get any of you anything? Sodas? Snacks?"

The group of kids looked up at the business course food stand with sceptical looks. "You guys must be the Quirkless losers who sell stuff rather than getting in on the action."

"Hey!" Meguno-san pointed at the small devil horns sticking up in front of his neatly parted brown hairline. "I don't see any of you punks with a pair of _these_."

The lead kid scoffed. "And what can you do with those, huh? Headbutt someone?" He punched a fist into his palm; smoke started rising up from between his knuckles. "Next year I'm gonna come here and show all you losers some _real_ power."

A small blue flame appeared over each of Meguno-san's horns. "Some of us are smart enough not to get involved in hero shit, kid. You would be wise to do the same."

"What, so I can end up like you and Shrimpy here? Selling fucking popcorn? I don't think so."

"I'm not that tiny… am I?"

Meguno-san stared at Hima-kun in disbelief. "You're asking this _now_? Are you kidding me?"

"Squirt, you're shorter than me, and I'm a middle schooler. You might as well just give up and die now."

"I could be bigger. If I used my Quirk."

The blond punk snorted. "You keep telling yourself that. And get me that blueberry soda on the right."

Hima-kun sighed and reached the bottle down. "That will be two-twenty."

"The fuck? What kind of extortion stand are you shitholes running?" The red-eyed boy turned away. "Forget it, loser, I don't get that much pocket money. This goddamn festival costs enough."

"It's not that expensive…"

"Come on, guys, we're leaving. I can't believe I gave up a fucking study day for this shit." The two other boys, looking regretfully at the popcorn and sodas, turned and followed the angry middle-schooler away back towards the spectators' seats. "I bet we can have more fun with that shithole nerd Deku later."

Hima-kun looked helplessly at Meguno-san, who shrugged.

"Can't please everyone. Some kids are just cocky little shits." He frowned. "I feel sorry for that other kid, though. With someone like that around… I fear for his safety."

Glumly Hima-kun nodded and put the drink back where it had been. "I remember that kind of person in my school, too. Before my Quirk manifested…" He shuddered. "It wasn't fun."

"Speaking of which, what is your Quirk?" Meguno-san leaned on the counter with his elbows, turning his head to the side. "You've seen mine now." A little devil tail waved beside his head to make the point. "You must have something, if you're on the hero course."

"They removed that regulation…"

"Yeah, but you said you had one. That wasn't just an idle threat."

"I… my classmates call him Faux Might."

"There's… a lot of things that are odd in that sentence. I mean, my Quirk is Little Devil. It's simple. My parents put that on my form, and here I am. But you…."

Hima-kun rubbed the back of his neck. "I just turn into an All Might replica, it's not that big of a deal…"

"The _fuck?_ "

"Well, people have transformation, gigantification, and shapeshifting abilities all the time, right? Mine's just… more specific."

Meguno Naomi stared at him, his pink eyes boring into Hima-kun's blue ones. "Why?"

"Why does anyone have a Quirk?"

"Yeah, but why All Might? You related to him or something?"

"I… don't think so."

"Seems like an awfully convenient type of Quirk, turning into the number 1 hero, if you ask me. Why not turn into, I don't know, Edgeshot? Or some random person?" He pointed at a passing blue-haired guy with glasses. "That kid, for example. Why not turn into him? Or me, huh?"

"I don't know. It just… happens that way."

Meguno Naomi snorted. "Listen, man, Quirks are fucking weird. I get that. But coincidences like that are beyond the ordinary weird shit you see every day. You even look kinda like him as you are, y'know? Like a younger, tinier version."

"I… do? You really think so?"

"Sure. Blue eyes, blond hair. Though yours is kinda more orange. Sticks up a lot more."

"That's…. weird. I've never thought of it that way."

The horn-headed boy looked at him, a sceptical expression on his face. "You should, Sasaki-san. It might be worth thinking about."

Hima-kun frowned, and made no answer.


	22. Quirk Note

The Second Challenge: Tornado!

Hayate grasped at the rope, twisting it nervously between his paws. Beside him, Abe-san kept unintentionally turning his sports uniform into metal and back, scrunching it up in his fingers over and over again. They weren't doing well: most people had already found their teams for the second excersise. Miku had already got a full team including Ali-chan, and as for Spike… well, Hayate didn't want to risk a 1,000,000-point price on his head. Spike would understand. He could probably find some people in the Gen Ed course to team up with.

He and Abe-san, on the other hand…. The two least sociable people in a class that already prided itself on its exclusivity. He couldn't remember ever having a proper conversation with the boy and wasn't even sure if he _had_ friends. He felt a little guilty about that.

He shook his head and looked around again, noticing two girls standing around without a rope. Alright, he could do this, with or without Miku. With a quick nudge to Abe-san, he walked over.

"Um… do you girls… that is, would you like to join my team?"

The short one grinned at him, showing a mouthful of remarkably sharp teeth.

"Oh, come to beg for class 1-B's help, eh? I should kill you just for trying! I –"

"Excuse Kati-chan, er, Hare Guy." The tall girl loomed over him, her long limbs seeming almost to sway in the breeze. "She means well. I think I can say for both of us that we'd appreciate the chance to be part of a team, even with members of 1-A."

Kati-chan stuck her hand out cheerfully. "That's what I said, more or less! Konoro Katia, at your service, and this is my comrade Akiyama Temi."

Hayate took her hand awkwardly. "Nakahara Hayate, and that over there is my other teammate Abe Shiori. May I enquire as to your Quirks?"

* * *

"So, Spike-kun. Come back to us old familiar Gen Ed students in desperation, huh?"

"I'm not desperate! In fact, Erina-san, I wanted you on my team for other reasons. Your Quirk is Mental Shield, right? You can defend against brain stuff, right?"

The white-haired boy blinked. "Yes, but – Ah. Naito-chan."

"Ah Naito-chan indeed." Spike took Erina Shinichi aside. "You know, she has a possession ability that she never told us about? It's not just being able to see through your eyes, hear with your ears, and feel what you feel – she can take over your entire fucking body. She actually used my Quirk one time."

"Oh my God. No wonder Aizawa-sensei wanted her."

"Apparently she only developed it shortly before the exam, too. It's unbelievable, and it really incapacitates you afterwards." He paused. "Except Miku-chan, for some reason."

"Never mind that – you don't think she'll dare using it here, do you? I mean, she likes to sit still just to use Point of View, and this won't exactly be an ideal place…"

"Well, no, but my point is, we could easily get to her team if she wasn't able to use our senses. Sneak up on her."

Erina-san tipped his head. "But, Spike, wouldn't it be a more sensible strategy to stay on the defence throughout the game? You only have to keep hold of your points…"

"No, I can't," Spike argued, "We'll just be herded into a corner, and they'll take the points easily. No, in this case the best defence is a good offense."

"In that case, I know a couple guys we might be able to use…"

* * *

"ALL RIGHT LISTENERS! Who's ready for Round 2?"

There was a cheer from the stadium.

"Great! We'll be starting in one minute! Competitors, grab onto your ropes! Make sure the point bands are securely Velcroed to your ropes, facing outward of course! Remember, listeners, if any student lets go of their rope with both hands for more than a minute they will be disqualified! Only 16 students, the members of the four highest scoring teams, will be able to pass through into the next round, so prepare yourselves for some excellent competition!"

Hayate grasped the rope tightly; on either side of him his teammates did the same. They had a strategy, of sorts, and a full four-person team. Now all they could do was hope they could work together long enough to survive.

The game started. The team charged forward, into the fray.

Almost immediately they ran into problems; Akiyama-san and Hayate went too fast for the slower Konoro and Abe, and there was an awful moment when they all got tangled up together trying to compensate.

Then they were clear again, moving a little slower this time, watching out for any sudden attacks from behind. Their first target came into view: a group of mostly 1-B students that Konoro-san said had a lot of points combined but not much strategic ability. Or as she put it – "They ain't shit!"

Indeed, the four of them seemed to be struggling already; not only were they uncoordinated, they seemed to be trying to outdo each other with needless Quirk displays – presumably to scare other students off. Snowballs, porcupine quills, and sparks flew this way and that; the guy with googly eyes springing from his head like a low budget alien seemed to be trying to calm them down, but to no avail.

"Hey! Zakkun!" Suddenly Konoro-san was waving towards the boy using his Quirk the most. "You've got a snowball's chance in hell of winning if you use your Quirk willy-nilly!"

The boy paused from sending snowballs every which way from his fingertips and turned his head, his cloud of grey fluffy hair bouncing in the wind. "Oh yeah, Knife girl? Try and stop me, stupid!"

Akiyama-san leaned down towards Hayate conspiratorially. "Kati-chan and Zaka-kun often flirt in this way."

Hayate ducked an incoming porcupine quill. "That's great, really, but how do we – aah! – get their points?"

"No fear, Nakahara-san. I will take this."

With that, Akiyama-san flung out one of her freakishly long arms towards the group; as Hayate watched, it extended even further towards the group of boys. The boys aimed their Quirks at the fast-moving arm – but she was already withdrawing it, holding the white ribbon with the other team's combined points.

"And already Nakahara Hayate's team is up, having stolen the points of Taro Zaka and his team! Will he manage to win through? Stay tuned!"


	23. One Quirk Piece

Miku glanced up at the scoreboard and grimaced. If UA was intending to set the siblings against each other, they were doing a pretty good job of it; Hayate's score was creeping up towards hers with alarming speed. Alright. It was time to up her game… "Yamashita-san! Okinawa-san! Let's get moving! Come on, Ali-chan!"

Yamashita Soru and Okinawa Rei nodded to her left; on her right, Ali-chan smiled. As one, they gripped the rope tighter and picked up their pace.

Their target, a certain group of General Education and Support students, were currently engaged in trying to steal a third group's points, rather unsuccessfully. They were getting pushed back into a corner and had already lost one of their members in the struggle.

Miku and her team ran forward, cornering the weak team from the other side, and before anyone's Quirk could be used Ali-chan and Okinawa-san had grabbed a point ribbon from each team and had got out of their way. The two teams, too engrossed in their own battle, never stood a chance.

Sneak attacks. Lightning raids. These were not usually the tactics of a professional hero, but Miku and Ali-chan agreed it was the most efficient and least risky way to increase their score. All they had to do was get enough points to keep themselves in the top four.

As long as nobody went after Miku's second-highest score, they would be fine… right?

* * *

First one, then the other Nakahara. Spike groaned and urged his team onwards to their next target. Compared to his classmates he wasn't doing well: both his attempts at attack had been abject failures, and he had very nearly risked losing his prize 1,000,000 points already. How would that look, a top 1-A student losing to any other class? It didn't bear thinking about.

No, it was time to try Plan B.

"Erina-san! Get ready!" The white haired boy nodded. "Uko-kun! Ranma-chan! Hold on!"

"We already are, baka!"

Spike ignore Uko-kun and gave Erina-san a nod; an instant later a bluish field was emanating from the boy's head, growing and morphing to fit the whole team. It was time to attack Miku.

* * *

"Only ten minutes of the twenty are remaining! The scores still leave Yamamoto Kenji in the lead, with Nakahara Miku and Nakahara Hayate in second and third. Finally, our current fouth place is Wamuu Shindo. But of course, this could all change in a matter of minutes or even seconds!"

Miku flicked her ear impatiently. Only ten minutes? They had barely made any progress at all, and someone could probably have the bright idea to attack them if they didn't stay on the move. Not only that, she was sure one of the teams she had targeted earlier was following her team for their revenge; if she couldn't find a way to distract them soon they might catch up and steal her points. She had to get into the final, if only to prove that she could.

"Ali-chan, do you think you could possess the team behind us while we're moving?"

"Can't you have asked me that earlier? And no, I can't even keep my balance with ordinary Point of View! We should try a different attack!"

"All right, Yamashita-san, Okinawa-san, it's your turn to shine."

The 1-B student and the Support student nodded; Okinawa Rei took Yamashita-san's arm in one hand. Yamashita, on the edge of the group, punched out his left hand into the air; instantly it turned into a long, curved scythe blade sticking out of his shoulder, splitting the arm of his sports uniform.

Okinawa-san sent a pulse of pink light into Yamashita-san's arm; the blade became larger, sharper, shinier.

"Okay, team," Miku announced, "let's turn and face these idiots."

Behind them, the weakened four-person team stood and glared, their leader already poised with his right hand outstretched. Miku and her team brace themselves and ran towards them.

The other team leader sent a volley of pointed sheets of paper towards them from his palm, the sharp edges flying past and getting in their faces, but Yamashita-san was already hefting his giant scythe arm towards them. He quickly cut their rope in half, narrowly grazing the team members in the middle, who dropped the rope; the two remaining members, now quite literally disbanded, were easy to take out with a swift kick and a swipe from the scythe.

It was a dirty tactic, but it worked. Ali-chan swiped their last point ribbon; if this kept up, they might even be able to win…

"Ali-chan, can you quickly check there's no one else after us? No one looking too hard in our direction, kind of thing? We can stop for a minute and protect you."

Ali-chan nodded. The team formed a circle facing outwards, Miku supporting the girl with a hand around her waist so she didn't fall.

A few tense seconds. To Miku's eyes, everyone around them was a threat, but only Ali-chan could tell whether anyone was actually targeting them. At last, Ali-chan opened her large, dark eyes.

"No one is focusing on us that I can see. If we attack people quickly…"

"I understand," Miku replied grimly. "Let's go!"

The circle opened back into a line, which began to run towards another target.

* * *

Spike nodded at his teammates.

"I think we're in the clear. Miku's team hasn't noticed us in the bustle of players."

"That's all very well, but while we were paying attention to whether we were being noticed… someone actually did notice us. Soon they'll be after your points."

"I know, I know, so let's get a move on."


	24. A Silent Quirk

"Alright guys. Any of you know any of the Quirks we might have to face on my sister's team?"

Abe-san blanched. "You don't actually want to risk attacking them, do you?"

"As heroes we should only aim for the best," replied Hayate with determination. "We shouldn't even let our own family slip through the cracks."

"Well, bunny boy, I just happen to know someone there."

"Go on, Konoro-san."

"Yamashita Soru. His Quirk is somewhat similar to mine, y'know? He can turn his arms into scythes and shit. Dunno about the other extra though, I think she's Support or something like that."

Akiyama-san nodded from somewhere above Hayate. "I know her, actually. She uses her Quirk to strengthen weapons."

"So… there are only two members of the team who are big threats, while the other two provide support."

"Oh, yes," commented Konoro drily, "I'm sure Miku-chan provides some excellent support…"

Hayate ignored her. "Akiyama-san, can you see whether they are paying attention to us?"

Akiyama-san stretched her head up a little and looked around. "Actually, they seem quite confident that no one is watching them. Shall we change that?"

Hayate nodded, an odd glint in his eye. "Oh, yes. Yes we shall."

* * *

The battle raged on noisily around them. With everything happening at once, none of them could keep up their vigilance forever. Ali-chan's assertion that there wasn't anyone targeting them had lowered their guard. Now they were again weakened, fighting off two teams at once to defend their own stash of points, which by now had grown quite large. The white pieces of ribbon fluttered in the wind; they won their game and took a collective breath.

WHAP!

A long mobile _thing_ had barrelled into the small mass of ribbons velcrod to their rope. Points scattered like leaves – and Yamashita made his arm into a scythe, slicing down hard towards the thing. Was that – an arm? A really, really long arm?

"Grab it!" Miku screamed, not sure if anyone could hear her. "Grab the hand!" She reached out towards – yes, that was just a really stretched-out human arm – and tried to catch on to it, but it was already retracting to its owner.

Miku's team followed it with their eyes.

"Well, well. Looks like we found an excellent source of points after all."

"Hayate. I thought you might come to challenge me."

"Seriously? What kind of cliché dialogue is this?" Konoro Katia held up her hand flat; the edge of her arm narrowed and sharpened and she gave a smirk towards Yamashita. "Hey! This time, Yamashita-kun, we'll see who's the best of the both of us!"

Yamashita scoffed. "Now who's cliché? You'll always be second to me, especially with my new partner here." He nodded at Okinawa, a pretty girl with two pigtails grasping at his normal arm with all her might.

"That's right! I'm not just a Support student anymore – I'm a sidekick!"

Miku gave a quick, matter-of fact flick of her ears. "All right, that's enough. Let's steal our points back!"

They charged.

The long arm of Akiyama Temi met them halfway, yanking on their rope with as much force as possible to try and get them to let go. Briefly, their legs got tangled, but they stayed on their feet – and Akiyama's arm slapped across their faces in succession, distracting them and making their eyes sting.

Yamashita lashed out with sudden ferocity; the long arm withdrew hastily, a cut beginning to drip blood on the ground.

Then the teams clashed. Yamashita and Konoro met hand-to – that is, arm-to-arm in a flurry of blows and parries. Okinawa, her hands full, kicked out towards Abe-san, who solidified his uniform just in time; he tried to loosen her hold on Yamashita's arm or the rope with as many small blows as he could. On Miku's right, Akiyama had wrapped her good arm around Ali-chan and was starting to squeeze; the small girl was turning purple, but still clung desperately to the rope, and seemed to be gearing up for a last ditch possession.

As for Miku and Hayate… As people experienced in hand to hand combat will know, it is difficult to fight much when surrounded at close quarters by allies and holding onto a rope at the same time. There is not much room for a good punch or a kick.

So Miku went for the points instead. Hayate grabbed her hand quickly, beginning to twist it upwards, bending her fingers out of shape.

The teams, as two single entities, became locked for a moment, a brutal display of strength. Then –

"Hey! Guys! Hoo-eee! Don't mind me, just a 1,000,000-pointer coming through! Hey, I'm Mr Spike, look at me! _Erina, are you sure this is a good plan of attack?"_

Startled, the two teams looked up at Spike, slowly releasing each other from the impasse. Spike and his two teammates – wait, hadn't there been three before? – were standing there, brazenly asking for a fight as if everyone in the surrounding area hadn't suddenly pricked up their ears at the phrase '1,000,000 pointer'.

Ali-chan, suddenly dropped from her choke hold, gasped, sounding appropriately dramatic and winded. "H-how did you get there? I didn't see you on the field before either…"

Spike gave a knowing wink. "That's for us to know and you never to find out. Now, either of you two second-place losers ready to take me on?"

Miku and Hayate glanced at each other. Hayate's nostrils flared, and she grinned. "May the best _Lepus_ get the prize. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare."

"Funny, I was sure it was a rabbit in the fable."

They flicked their ears in unison, and –

"Let's go, people!"

"Charge!"

 _"Miku-chan—"_ Ali-chan was trying to whisper while running – " _we lost our points. If we want any chance getting into the third round –"_

"Understood. Alright, everyone, aim for the points and don't hold back!"

 _"Nakahara-san, I have your sister's points, so we don't need to win this completely outright."_

Hayate nodded. "Good, because it looks like someone else is about to attack us…"


	25. Quirk Clover

Miku's team reached Spike's first, Yamashita slashing forward pre-emptively against any attacks. With a muffled grunt, Miku reached towards the 1,000,000 points –

"Ah-ah-ah, Miku- _chan_. What do you think you're doing with my hard-earned points, eh?" Spike's hand reached out, narrowly missing putting a spike through Miku's paw. "You'll have to do better than that."

Yamashita slashed again, this time towards the odd-looking girl with the hair – she dodged, twisting her torso away from his blade. "Okinawa-san! Strengthen me!"

With a nod, Okinawa-san sent another pulse of pink light through Yamashita's arm; his arm grew, curved, and he slashed again, almost grazing the flexible young woman.

"It's useless, Miku-chan! Your team doesn't have the offensive capabilities that mine does!"

All four members rushed against Spike's team – Yamashita slashing left and right, his arm a blur of steely flashes, Miku kicking forward as best she could, trying to trip her classmate up, Ali-chan and Okinawa-san darting in for punches and grabs. And yet Spike and the two others kept dodging, kept keeping just out of their reach, kept their balance despite everything. Not only that, Spike produces spike after spike from unexpected places – his bicep, the edge of wrist, his wrist, his hip. The blue sports uniform was starting to tear. But, Miku noticed, not… there. If she could find an opening –

Miku finally landed a kick, knocking Spike onto the ground. It was a little under the belt – literally – but it was worth it. Spike had almost let go of the rope, barely keeping hold of it with his spikes, but in doing do had also pulled his entire team towards the ground. Now, before he recovered – Miku's hand darted out and grabbed the white band. It was time to make their escape.

"Let's get outta here!"

"Not so fast, sister!"

Suddenly, Miku remembered that Hayate existed. Shit.

"Um… Hayate… Hi…" She looked around at her team. "Run away!"

They ran away.

Hayate looked back at Spike, groaning and struggling to get up. Did he still have the 1,000,000 points? All of their ribbons were every which way. Was it worth it? They could attack quickly, while Spike was down… Still, Akiyama might not want to put her hand near the angry, injured Spike. Perhaps if they used a different tactic…

"Let's get close up."

"But I could just reach over – "

"Spike is very…. Spiky. If he so much as grabs your hand –"

"Oh, right."

"Let's go!" They crept forward, closer to the stricken team. "If we get the top three point scores… that's almost 2,000,000 points, right? That's got to count for something."

Spike stood up, slightly hunched, but gritting his teeth, just as Hayate's team drew level. "Come on, guys, defend, dammit!"

"It's no good, Spike, we outnumber you and have more combat-oriented Quirks." Hayate reached out for the nearest ribbon.

"Uko-kun, now!"

A new boy materialized right in front of Hayate, squeezed in between Spike and the white-haired boy, and gave Hayate a swift uppercut. He reeled.

 _"Why didn't you call me earlier? That rabbit girl stole our points!"_

 _"If you didn't notice, Uko-kun, I had other things to worry about! Couldn't you have figured it out for yourself?"_

Hayate regained his balance, shaking his head quickly.

 _"I can't see very well when I'm small! And she nearly crushed me!"_

 _"Hey, uh, guys? I took the opportunity to snatch a ribbon, but… He's staring at us."_

Spike's team looked up at Hayate and his team.

"I think this is the time to get away with what we have in a tactical retreat!"

"You mean, run away?"

"That's exactly what I mean, dammit!" They ran away, in the other direction to Miku, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.

"So… what do we do now?"

Hayate looked back at his team, who were all looking as bewildered as he felt. For a moment, he considered what there was to do, how to get more points before –

"TIME'S UUUUP!"

"What? I didn't hear a warning or anything –"

"THAT'S RIGHT PEOPLE THE TIME IS UP AND THE SCORES ARE IN! ONLY THE FOUR HIGHEST SCORING TEAMS WILL SURVIVE, SO LET'S HEAR IT!"

"Well… I guess it's over now, huh? How many points do you think we have?"

Hayate looked at their collection of ribbons and tried to estimate their total.

"I think it's enough… right?"

"In fourth place, PACHIKO NAGISA AND HER TEAM! In third, YAMAMOTO KENJI AND HIS TEAM! In second place we have the YOUNGER NAKAHARA TWIN, NAKAHARA HAYATE! Which means that FIRST PLACE GOES TO NAKAHARA MIKU AND HER TEAM! ALL FOUR TEAMS ADVANCE TO THE NEXT ROUND!"

He smiled. "Good job, team. We got through."

* * *

"You guys did so well out there!" Hima-kun, decked out with a tray of drinks, greeted them with a grin as they made their way back to the preparation area. "I am here with sodas to celebrate!"

"Well, it's nice to know you were cheering us on!"

"Of course! You guys – Miku-chan, you were amazing! Did you really kick Spike in the – "

Miku blushed quickly. "Er, yeah, I did. It was a… spur of the moment kind of thing, it wasn't –"

"But it gave you the opportunity to grab the 1,000,000 points! Your team worked to well together despite not having a good combination of Quirks."

"I… suppose so…"

"And Hayate! You and Abe had a great tactic there with that stretchy girl!"

"Uhh… Thanks."

"What about me, huh? Gonna complement me?"

Hima-kun looked embarrassed. "Uh… I actually didn't see any of your fights except the last one." He gestured to the drinks tray. "It's hard to sell and watch… But you did really well to defend your points for so long. Although you probably could have used that invisible guy better."

Spike ground his pointy teeth. "He wasn't invisible. His quirk shrinks him to the size of an ant and back."

"Oh?" Ali-chan grinned wickedly. "Are you sure he's not just really tiny with a Gigantification Quirk?"

"Shut up, dumbass, or I'll call an exorcist on you."

An announcement came over the speakers, quickly distracting them from their fight.

"The one-on-one games will be starting shortly. Competitors, please pay attention to the timetable to find out about your fights."

Hima-kun looked up. "Ah, already? I'd better get out of your way then – unless any of you want to buy a drink?"

They didn't.


	26. Hero x Hero

The Third Challenge: Individual Battles

Game 1: Nakahara Miku vs. Ikeda Haruhi (Quirk: Light Reflect)

Miku stood in the open arena – provided, presumably, by Cementoss – across from the pretty young girl with the orange curly hair. The other competitor, a General Education student she hadn't really noticed in the melee, gave her a small smile. The sky was clear now, a sunny blue that promised to get hotter as the day wore on. Miku tried a few more subtle stretches.

"ARE YOU READY?"

Miku gave a short nod; her opponent did the same.

"Then STAAAAART!"

She leapt towards the orange-haired girl, staying on her guard for any kind of Quirk attack. The girl stood there calmly, then, just when Miku was starting to become unnerved, put her bare arms up in an X over her chest. There was a flash of dazzling sunlight and Miku stopped in her tracks, blinking. For a moment, the afterimage blinded her, but –

The girl's footsteps sounded, going around to her left as quickly as quietly as she could. A sneak attack, probably meant to confuse her or tire her out.

Miku blinked, and without turning her head kicked the girl with her powerful hind leg, knocking her back to the edge of the arena.

"You really think you can sneak up on someone with almost 360-degree vision?" She turned and walked towards the girl, winded but still struggling to get up. "Even if you blind me, I still have excellent hearing."

She picked the girl up in a princess carry and gently dropped her just out of bounds. "You did well to get this far."

It was almost too easy.

Winner: Nakahara Miku

* * *

Game 2: Akiyama Temi (Quirk: Long Limbs) vs. Pachiko Nagisa (Quirk: Head Net)

Winner: Akiyama Temi

* * *

Game 3: Abe Shiori vs. Konoro Katia (Quirk: Sharpening)

"Turned your clothes into metal, eh? Well you won't be able to move very fast, will you?" Konoro-san grinned and sharpened her arms. "Let's see how well it holds up against _these_."

Winner: Konoro Katia

* * *

Game 4: Okinawa Rei (Quirk: Weapon Strengthen) vs. Ranma Kosei (Quirk: Ultra Flexible)

"Hey! You aren't allowed to have knives here!"

"It's a support item. Besides, Konoro-san has knives too, technically."

*SORRY, KIDDO! Looks like Okinawa Rei's broken the rules with this one!"

Okinawa Rei – disqualified. Winner: Ranma Kosei

* * *

Game 5: Yamamoto Kenji vs. Sobano Bobobo (Quirk: Sponge Skin)

Spike laid his palm flat on the flabby boy's shoulder triumphantly. It wasn't enough to kill – Spike was an enthusiastic student of anatomy – but just enough to put his opponent out of action. A foot-long spike extended into the boy's body… but there was no blood. Spike didn't even feel his spike puncture the skin. The boy grinned.

"I have sponge skin, dumbass. That means I can absorb all of your spike attacks, all of your punches…"

Spike grunted, then pulled his hand down as hard as he could. "I used to tear up sponges all the time!" he yelled, as a deep and bloody cut appeared down the startled boy's torso. "All you need is something sharp!"

Winner: Yamamoto Kenji

* * *

Game 6: Erina Shinichi vs. Naito Alice

"STAAAART!"

Ali-chan sat down and closed her eyes.

Nothing happened.

"Are you all right, Ali-chan?" asked Erina-san innocently, a small blue field surrounding his head. "Something wrong with your Quirk, perhaps, or do you feel ill?"

"Why can't I – oh! It's you!"

"Quite. Shall we have a proper fight, perhaps?"

"Well," Ali-chan opened her eyes, "I suppose a possession Quirk isn't much use against your Mental Shield." She got to her feet. "But I'm not just going to let you win."

Winner: Erina Shinichi

* * *

Game 7: Fujioka Aito (Quirk: Diamond Nails) vs. Yamashita Soru

The boy with the flowing blue hair fluttered his eyelashes and smiled. "Ah, it's an honour to fight against such an able student." He brought a thin, pretty hand up in front of his mouth, showing his long, glittering nails, and laughed; Yamashita Soru gritted his teeth. "But, you know, it's not the size of the Quirk that matters, Yamashita-san. It's how you use it that counts, no?"

Yamashita Soru's arms turned into scythes: he charged.

"Oh, no…"

Winner: Yamashita Soru

* * *

Game 8: Ubara Unsho (Quirk: Miniaturising) vs. Nakahara Hayate

"STAAART!"

The other boy shrunk, and Hayate wondered how fast he was in that form. He walked over, carefully so as not to get any surprises, and saw a tiny speck running towards him. The kid really was the size and speed of an ant, almost like a certain popular copyrighted character, though Hayate knew this version wasn't very good at using it to his advantage. He bent down and, making sure not to be taken by surprise, flicked the boy casually with his finger.

The kid went flying, growing as he went, his weight beginning to add to his momentum. With a tumble, he rolled to the edge of the ring, battered and bruised.

Hayate hopped over and, rather than copying his sister's graceful move from earlier, shoved the boy out of bounds with his foot. Was this really all the competition they were going to get?

Winner: Nakahara Hayate


	27. Life's a Bleach

Round 2! Game 1: Nakahara Miku vs. Akiyama Temi

The tall girl looked down at Miku, as she did everyone. "I was on a team with your brother, you know."

"I know. Don't worry, I won't go easy on you just because of that." She smiled from under her eyelashes. "And I expect you to go beyond, too."

The game started.

Akiyama-san sent a long arm towards Miku for a punch; she dodged it. A second, third punch; Miku jumped out of the way with her powerful legs. It was so much easier to fight in an open space like this, but... she couldn't keep dodging forever.

In conditions like this, her trick of throwing the enemy over her head and into the nearest obstacle wasn't going to work: as soon as she caught hold of Temi's hand the girl would either fling her away (assuming she was strong enough) or stretch her arm so Miku didn't have any leverage. No, this required a different strategy.

She caught Temi's arm and jumped upwards, flipping over to face the girl and landing on her stretched out arm, still holding her wrist. She let go, avoiding the other wildly flailing arm, and used the quickly retracting limb to scamper up towards Akiyama-san's head. Just before the shoulder, she leapt, bringing her legs forwards into Akiyama's shocked face full force in the manner of a certain ginormous woman. This time, however, it was the tall girl who was knocked down like a tree in the forest; Miku rolled onto the ground just inside the arena beside her, the long-limbed student landing heavily on the ground, out of bounds on both sides.

Winner: Nakahara Miku

* * *

Game 2: Konoro Katia vs. Ranma Kosei

Winner: Konoro Katia

* * *

Game 3: Yamamoto Kenji vs Erina Shinichi

"Look, I'll be honest with you. I'm a Gen Ed student, not a hero. I don't really want to be stabbed, and my Quirk is purely mental. So I'm just going to walk out of bounds because, no matter what, I don't think I'll be able to beat you."

Spike stared at the boy. "You… you serious?"

In reply, Erina Shinichi turned away and walked out of bounds, a calm, slightly sad look on his face. "I hope your next opponent survives."

Erina Shinichi – forfeits. Winner: Yamamoto Kenji

* * *

Game 4: Daiki Soru vs. Nakahara Hayate

For a moment, Daiki's scythe arms glinted in the sunlight. He charged at Hayate.

Hayate leapt up, between the boy's curved blades, catching his opponent's head in his hands. If Miku could do it – He flipped down, using all his momentum to lever the other boy up and over his head, into the ground. Then, without pausing, he picked up the smaller boy by the legs and heaved him over the border of the arena.

Winner: Nakahara Hayate

* * *

Round 3! Game 1: Nakahara Miku vs. Konoro Katia

Now this was a formidable opponent. A girl who could make it so that kicking her would be like kicking a razor blade; not quite as lethal, perhaps, as Spike, but still…

"All right there, bunny girl? You know, your brother's pretty handsome, for a hare."

"He's not interested in you after just one meeting. Probably."

"Aww, c'mon. When I beat you, you have to promise to give me his number, okay?"

"Uhh… sure." Miku looked at the sharp-toothed girl. Where would _not_ be a good place to sharpen herself? Where might be an opening?

She grimaced. This wouldn't be as easy as taking down Spike with a kick…

"STAAART!"

Miku rushed forwards towards Konoro-san on all fours, bounding quickly over the distance. Sure enough, Konoro was already sharpening her arms, standing ready to defend herself. But instead of aiming for her chest, Miku raised up her hands – a low crouching run on two legs – and grabbed Konoro around the waist, ignoring the knife sharp arms beginning to hack into her. She ran to the edge of the arena carrying Konoro in a makeshift tackle, more and more blood flowing from her shoulders and back as the girl sawed into her desperately. At last, she reached the edge and, with a shove, pushed Konoro Katia out of bounds.

She collapsed to the ground. She had only won by the skin of her teeth (and her back, dammit) by getting her opponent out of bounds. Blood leaked out in a pool around her; she managed, barely, to acknowledge that she could still move to receive the win, then blacked out, her blue uniform slowly staining a horrible purple colour.

Konoro Katia – loses.


	28. Cells at Quirk!

She woke up, lying on her stomach, her back and shoulders wrapped in bandages. Beside her, Recovery Girl was sponging away the last of the blood, looking sad and frustrated. Miku coughed slightly and moaned.

"You're awake."

"I… won…"

Recovery Girl sniffed. "Barely. If you had fought hand to hand you might still have come away with fewer injuries."

"Was gonna… get injured… either way."

"You had other options. A kick to the groin like with Yamamoto, for example."

"She can still defend herself…"

"You're lucky you didn't bleed to death, young lady. As it is I really don't recommend another fight: you've lost a lot of blood which even I can't put back in you."

"…Oh." She turned her head slightly, trying to get more comfortable. "Then… what's happening?"

"Well, what would have happened if you had been smart enough to keep most of your blood inside your body, was that you would have advanced to the last round to fight either Yamamoto or your brother. As it is, those two have been advanced to the final instead, where you have been put in third place since, technically, you defeated Konoro. They're fighting now to see which one will come out on top."

"Wait, now? Like now now?"

Recovery Girl gave her a withering look. "What other now would I be referring to? No, don't you dare move –" Miku had tried to get up – "just rest. We'll hear the results over the speaker in a minute, and I expect someone will need me again." She sighed. "I know, you want to cheer on your brother and make sure he's okay. But you'll be able to watch it again later. Just lie down and wait. Please. While your blood is still low."

Miku obeyed.

* * *

And then her curtain opened on the right side, and the bed next to hers became occupied. Another wall of green cloth stood between her and it: a shadow lay on the other side, moving shallowly up and down. Recovery Girl and her team had done everything they could; all they could do now was hope. He was classed as 'severe'. Apparently, he had been taken by surprise; one swift move after a long battle, and it had been all over. Blood dripped into him, as it dripped into her, and painkillers, too. His death, if it occurred, would be merciful.

She watched the shadow rise and fall, a few centimetres at a time. It was barely even visible…

"Please… Please be alright, Hayate."

* * *

Hima-kun sat down heavily. Hayate-kun… He put his head in his hands. The drinks tray clinked as he leant over it, gripping tightly at his forehead. He was meant to be selling them… God, Spike was stupid. What had he been thinking with an attack like that?

 _And they thought_ I _was dangerous as Faux Might…_

He looked up at the screen, showing the results of the final fight. The stadium, half cheering and half standing in shocked silence, stared with him, waiting for the next announcement.

Was that the first drop of rain on his face, falling from the cloudless sky? What kind of stupid thing was that? He looked up, his two small locks of hair falling into his eyes. What kind of justice was it, not knowing whether your friend would live or die, knowing that a deadly Quirk had been the final blow?

Part of him, the part that always whispered in his mind at moments like this, told him that it was hero society that was at fault here. They had created an opportunity for his friend to be killed – if he had been killed – while the whole of the world looked on, none of the heroes doing anything to stop it. They didn't really care for the little children they were sending into war, only that some of them grew up to be heroes in the end. He frowned.

"Shut up, Faux Might. Besides, he might still be alive."

 _Don't delude yourself. There's no reason to trust these guys to help him._

"Recovery Girl is really good at her job. She fixed Miku right up."

 _That wasn't so bad. But if you had become me and saved him… we wouldn't be having this conversation._

"It's not a conversation if you're talking to yourself. It's just a crazy monologue."

 _We should have transformed._

"We can't do that."

 _Why not? Because of the real All Might? Fuck him!_

"Because I don't want to hurt my friends."

 _To make an omelette, you have to break a few eggs. Like Miku. Hayate. Spike. Ali. And All Might._

"Why are you so obsessed with him, anyway? You look like him already."

 _Because I want to kill him._

* * *

"Are you all right there, Sasaki-san? You… are you crying?"

Hima-kun wiped his face. "No, Meguno-san, I'm fine. I'm just… surprised about what just happened. One of my friends just got badly injured."

"Come on, man. Let's go back to the stand. They'll tell us how he is soon." He smiled at Hima-kun sympathetically. "He'll be fine. I'm sure of it."


	29. Hayate's Moving Castle

"And the winner is YAMAMOTO KENJI. His opponent, Nakahara Hayate, has been forced to retire from the competition due to injury, and is in critical care. He should, however, recover, though neither he nor his sister Nakahara Miku, the third-place winner, will be able to attend the awards ceremony. We will award the first-place medal in just a minute, but for now here's a presentation by Mitakihara Senior School."

* * *

"Miku? Miku, are you all right? And Hayate, oh, God—"

"I'm fine, mama. Recovery Girl is patching us both up."

There was a muffled half-sigh half-sob from her mother, and a distinctively hamster-ish squeak. "Oh, god, we thought – Hayate got stabbed – you got cut – "

"I know. We'll have to face worse threats as pro heroes. This is good training—"

"What kind of good training carves you up like that? It shouldn't have got that far!"

"You're right, mama. I made a mistake in my game. I should have been more careful."

"Of course I'm right! Tell Hayate too – neither of you are allowed to do something like that again. You get better, okay? Better and stronger."

"Yes, mama, I'll tell him."

"Can you... can he talk to me?"

Miku buried her face briefly in her pillow, then tried to answer calmly. "He… hasn't woken up yet. We both lost a lot of blood…"

There was another half-sob on the other end.

"Tell him, please."

"I will, mama. As soon as he wakes up."

 _"Come on, Kyouko, stop fussing. They'll be fine. Here, let me chat to her."_

 _"But did you hear, Hayate hasn't woken up yet?"_

 _"He'll be fine, Kyou-sa. They have excellent medical care at UA."_

 _"I know, but…"_

 _"I know. Here, we should be congratulating her! We've got to encourage them a little."_

 _"Well… all right."_ A pause. "I'm going to pass you over to Dad, okay?"

"Okay."

"Miku! Oh, it's nice to hear your voice. You know Mama worries about you, but – you did well, love. You know I'm proud of you, and Mama too."

Miku grinned despite herself. "Thanks, dad."

"Well, hey, now we can boast to all of our friends that our children came second and third in the great UA sports festival! I mean, I remember when you were still blind, you –"

" _Dad!_ Is it that embarrassing diaper story again? Every time I do something… I swear, when I become a pro –"

"I'll still be telling that story." He chuckled, and Miku joined him briefly before wincing at the pain in her back. At least the diaper story was slightly better than dying, even if it was only slightly. "By the way, Miku, your voice sounds funny. Are you sure you're all right?"

"Ah, it's just the way I'm lying. I still have to lie on my front side so as not to cause damage to the cuts on my back."

"Miku…"

"I know, dad. I'll be more careful next time."

"How bad is it?"

She sighed. "Don't tell mama this, but… some of the cuts were deep enough to need stitches, even with Recovery Girl on the scene, and some of the bones of my ribcage have cuts in them."

There was an awful silence. "…Never, ever do that again. You could have had one of your lungs punctured."

"I know. I almost did. Apparently it looks like I've been whipped."

"They should have disqualified that girl for that. And Spike, too. They're so dangerous…"

Miku thought of someone even more dangerous, and was glad Hima-kun hadn't been called upon to use his Quirk. There would have been outrage…

"There will be worse enemies to face."

"I know, darling. All you can do is get better."

"We will, dad."

"Good." There was a noise through the speakers, as of a door opening. "Oh, look who's coming in here with Mama! You wanna talk to Ru-tan?"

"Ruru! Is he there?"

Kanaru's childish voice suddenly blazed through the speakers. Her dad must have put it on speakerphone. "HayaMiku! Hello!"

"Hiya there, Kan-chi. It's just me right now, Haya-onii's sleeping."

"Is he very owie?"

"Yeah, Kan-chi. Me and him got big owies. But don't worry, we're gonna get better, okay?"

"Okay! We're gonna have cake!"

She smiled. "Oh, then we'll definitely have to be there!"

"Ru-tan, it was a surprise…"

"Oh yeah. Shhh, Miku-nee! Issa secret!"

"I promise, I won't tell anyone…"

"Okay! I'm gonna go play!"

"Ru-tan, don't jump around in the –" There was a thump. "— house." _That flooring has taken so much abuse from us three jumping around…_ "Well, that's it. I'll see you when the festival ends, I guess."

"Alright, dad. See you later. Love you."

"We love you too, sweetheart. And… You both did so well. We're so proud."

"Thanks, dad. See ya."

"Bye, sweetie."

She hung up, and buried her face in the pillow once more.


	30. Full Hero Alchemist: Siblinghood

There was a yellow blob in front of him.

"…ahhh…" His chest hurt. If he could just say something…

The yellow blob wasn't moving. He had a feeling it was staring at him. It looked… familiar. He wheezed.

"Hiii….ma….kun?"

"You're talking to a light fixture, dumbass."

Hayate blinked. Suddenly, the oddly-shaped yellow blob came into focus. It was, indeed, an ordinary light fixture.

"Imma wake."

"Looks that way, huh? Better call Recovery Girl."

Hayate looked towards where the voice was coming from, finding a brownish blob that resolved into his sister. She was lying on her stomach on the hospital bed next to his, enclosed on three sides by greenish curtain, he head turned to look at him. "M-m-miku."

"Uh-huh. Alive and well. Mostly. You?"

"Got… stabbed…"

"Yeah, I know. Mama says don't ever do that again."

"Speak… for… yourself."

"Yeah, I got a chewing-out. But, hey. We did good."

"I… beat… you…"

"Don't let it go to your head. You still came second."

Hayate wheezed gently. "Lo…ser…"

"I would have lost even more if Spike had gone just a few inches to the right."

"Yeah. Still… alive…" He winced. "Ah."

"Recovery Girl's coming, okay?"

"Yeah. I'm… glad… you're… alive."

"Me too. It could have been worse…"

"Could… have… been… a window…" He wheezed a little harder this time and Miku smiled. He was okay. Everything was going to be okay.

"Hey, why did you say Hina-kun's name just n—"

Recovery Girl tore the curtain open, with surprising force for someone so small and adorable. "Nakahara! You're awake!"

* * *

Recovery Girl, after making sure Hayate was not going to stop breathing anytime soon, decreed that neither twin was allowed to move without her say-so, but allowed a screen to be brought to the foot of their beds so they could watch Spike getting his medal. Well, Hayate watched. Miku was in exactly the wrong position to see the screen. She didn't mind. Present Mic's incessant narrating, combined with the shortness of the ceremony – second and third were out of action, after all – made it pretty much the same whether she was watching or not.

Besides, she was alive. Hayate was alive. And the one time Hayate took the opportunity to comment on what was going on, it was to point out that poor Spike looked pretty cut up about what he'd done.

"No…pun…intended…"

* * *

He was going to recover well, they said, although he wasn't allowed "to do anything, ever, for at least a week". Miku could agree with that.

"You may also start coughing blood when you become exerted or stressed in any way. It's a common symptom from patients who have lost part of their lungs, though of course not as bad as _some_ people." Recover Girl sneezed. " _Toshinori_!"

"Bless you."

"Thank you. Dear me, my old sinuses aren't good for much in this weather."

"Two weeks… is a long… time…"

"No it isn't, you have a goddamn hole in your chest two inches in diameter, which nearly touched your heart and several major blood vessels. You're lucky to still be breathing at all! Though again, not as bad as some." She coughed. " _Yagi_!"

"Point…taken."

"Actually, now that I consider it, you probably shouldn't be talking at all for a day or two. So shut your yap and put up with it. Just flick your ears."

He flicked an ear mournfully.

"Good. Now, Miku, on the other hand… It's not exactly as though you've been whipped," said Recovery Girl, patting Miku's arm gently, "it's more that you got hacked at over and over again by two machete-like objects."

"Wonderful. Just what I needed to hear."

"Even so, you've been luckier than your brother. Your wounds have pretty much closed up or been stitched up, and you'll soon have all your blood back in you. However, I'm not going to let you out of bed either, at least for another couple of days. Otherwise all my hard work will be undone."

"When will we get back to school? And we're going to have internships and stuff, right?"

"We can sort that out when you're better. Right now you need to focus on getting well, you understand?"

"…Yes, ma'am."

"Good girl. Have a gummy. You too, Two-Inch-Hole."

"That's… a _really_ terrible nickname for him."

Hayate flicked an ear in agreement.

* * *

"There, see, he's alive. They'll be out of the sick ward in no time, the both of them. See? It's not so bad."

Hima-kun nodded shakily and smiled. "Th-thanks M-meguno-san."

"No problem, man." He patted Hima-kun gently on the shoulder. "I know it gets you bad when it's a friend." A smile. "Though I have a feeling your weepy face scared off a few customers."

"Sorry." Hima-kun looked up at him. "Is that why you're not a hero, because you're worried about your friends?"

"Nah." Meguno-san grinned. "I just really, really like maths."


	31. Revolutionary Girl Nakahara

"How much longer is this going to take?" Miku groaned, trying to reach around to feel her scars with one hand. "I'm pretty sure I'm better already thanks to Recovery Girl. Is she just holding me here to keep you company?"

"Oh, thanks. I love knowing I have your full support."

"Sorry, Hayate. It's just…" She sighed. "I'm bored. Lying on my stomach is uncomfortable. It's hard to sleep. I'd rather be doing something useful, to be honest."

"It hasn't been that long, has it? It's only a been couple of days."

"I know, I know. Things will be worse when we're pro heroes. And we'll be able to move out of here and see everyone soon enough. It's just…"

He looked at her. She had… a look on her face, like there was something more than she was saying. Like she wanted to talk but didn't know how.

"Is there anyone in particular that – I mean, apart from Mama and Dad – is there anyone you want to see?"

"I… I don't know. I guess a couple day's separation from our friends isn't too bad, considering we both almost died."

"Well, I'm sure they're eager to see us too. I bet they'll be pretty relieved. And, hey, I'm allowed to talk now, so…"

"Hmmm." She looked up at him, hugging her pillow to her chest. "Do you think… What's your opinion of Ali-chan?"

"She's sweet, I guess. Kinda boring, but very competent. A good ally."

"Nothing more, huh?"

"Uh… why do you ask?"

"I've always thought her quite pretty myself. Those big eyes, the long hair, the pointy ears… And her calmness and cheerfulness only improve it. I'm sure she and Spike will make a good couple."

Hayate choked, spattering the bedsheets with blood. "Couple? Those two? Since when?"

"Well… I don't know. I kinda assumed, since they work together so well… They have a flirty thing going on."

"They do? Are we talking about the same people?"

"You don't see it? They do a lot together."

"She was in your team at the festival. And I'm pretty sure he's actually scared of him. Like genuinely terrified. Their whole banter thing – such as it is – is just him trying to be funny about it."

Miku looked thoughtful. "Maybe you're right. I can see that." She smiled. "Perhaps I shouldn't have been so hasty."

"Perhaps you should talk to her about it."

"Yeah, I should." Her face cleared up; whatever had been bothering her was gone now. "Speaking of which," she added, flicking her ear mischievously, "is there anyone you particularly want to see? Any burning desires I should know about?"

"Ummm… Not that I can think of."

"Are you sure? Not pining away for a certain light fixture? Let's see, what did you call it…"

"I was drug-addled. Probably hallucinating from pain and shock and whatnot. It's not unreasonable when someone's punched a hole in your chest."

She grinned wickedly, a decidedly odd expression on a rabbit. "I seem to remember it was something like… Hinata, was it? Hikari? Oh yes, it was –"

"Okay, okay, I mistook a light fixture for Hima-kun, no need to rub it in. I thought he was staring at me."

"Mmm-hmm. And did you by any chance feel the need to stare back? Maybe get a little closer, hmmm?"

"Shut up. Go kiss up to Ali-chan or something."

She blushed briefly, then retorted: "Can't, onii-chan. My back is killing me, and if I survive that and talk to someone, Recovery Girl will do it instead. So, again. Hima-kun. Is he the shrimp for you?"

"You like Ali-chan." The realization hit. Suddenly everything made sense. "That's why you were asking me about her and Spike. And now you're deflecting it back to me."

To his surprise, Miku didn't immediately defend herself with a jab about Hima-kun. Instead, she looked down at her pillow, frowning slightly; her ears drooped, just a little.

"Well, I guess I can't deny it." She looked back up, her face as serious and honest as he'd ever seen it. "We've had some time to think in the past couple of days, haven't we? And, of course, the first thing I always think about is whether you're okay. But then… Since you can breathe, and speak, and maybe even laugh a little… I realised I was thinking about her. Wondering if she was okay. Imagining that beautiful smile… Isn't it crazy? We've barely known each other a couple of months. But… I know when we go back I'll see her again. I know that when I see her… I'll be happy, even if she doesn't feel the same way. And so…" She gave a little movement, a slight nod that perhaps was meant to replicate a shrug without hurting her shoulders. "I guess I am trying to deflect from that. I'm sorry."

"… I… oh." Hayate stared at his sister for a few moments. "I didn't expect you to be so honest with me. You didn't have to."

"No, I can't hide it from you. We know each other too well. And… well, I guess I needed someone to talk to about it."

"Then… thank you. For telling me."

"Thanks for listening. And…" Suddenly her eyes were glinting again, a spark of mischief in her eyes. "An older sister should always lead by an example, right?"

"Dammit, Miku. It was a hallucination. It has no meaning."

"And yet that's immediately the thought you jump to. Come on, you'll feel better if you spill the beans. Trust me on this one."

"I—" He stopped. Just how exactly did he feel? It was… well, any conversation about Hima-kun was complicated. "I don't know. I've barely even seen him, really, and the whole festival, well…"

"That's not what I'm asking."

"You know that time I fainted? There was a good few minutes there where I was alone with… with Faux Might."

"Riight. It's not him, is it?"

Hayate shuddered. "No, it's not like that." He sighed. "You probably heard what happened. The way he talked about us, about All Might and everyone. Even if the earpiece wasn't turned on, you probably heard it from somewhere else, right?"

"Yeah, but…"

"He said terrible things. Threatened everyone. And then… Hima-kun came back. He… always had such a sunny smile and hopeful face, but… When he came back, when he stopped using his Quirk… I wondered if his smile will come back again next time. It's…"

He bunched up his paws, trying to find an explanation for what he was thinking. "The way they both talk, it's like one of them doesn't belong there. In his head I mean. Like one is an unintended side effect. I…"

He looked at his hands again, opening and closing on thin air. "I guess I just feel nervous that Hima-kun isn't the original. I don't know… why that's so worrying to me, but… I'd rather spend time with Hima-kun than with his Quirk or his side effect or whatever. And… I think I'd rather see his smile than anything in the world." He bowed his head and frowned. "I guess I really was hiding something."

"Yeah, I know how that feels. And actually, perhaps I expected it a little." She hmm'd. "You spent some time together in this very ward, correct?"

"I suppose that's where a lot of this comes from, yes. And the hallucination, as well, perhaps. A flashback to him keeping watch over me, even after his alter ego threatened me and the world. He's what I'd call a hero, through and through. And…"

She nodded. "Then when Faux Might gets out… if Hima-kun is a hero, then –"

"Then Faux Might is definitely a villain."


	32. Himawari Axis Powers

"You're back!"

"I'm back. _We're_ back."

"Oh, it's so good to see you two!" Ali-chan almost ran over to them, a massive smile on her face, and before either of them could protest had caught them both in a massive hug. "We were so worried!"

"Ahh! My shoulders are still sensitive…"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She let go and smiled at them happily. "But you're healing now, right?"

"Yeah, it's all pretty much scarred over thanks to Recovery Girl." Miku rubbed the back of her neck uncertainly. "It… uh… well, it's nice to see you all again."

"Well, thank goodness you're all right. But… Spike, didn't you have something to say to Hayate?" She glared at Spike meaningfully and motioned with her head. "Come on."

Spike got up from his seat and came up to the twins. Without looking in their eyes, he bowed deeply; it seemed not to fit with his character somehow. "I'm sorry for stabbing you in the chest."

Hayate smiled weakly. "Well, I'm alive still. But next time be a bit more careful, okay? I mean, not that I want to be stabbed a second time. But you know what I mean."

"Yeah," Spike sighed, "I know."

The door opened behind them again. "Ah, Nakahara-kun, Nakahara-chan! It's nice to see you two again!"

"Oh, hello, Abe-san. Yes, it's nice to be back."

"You have missed quite a lot of work, you know, it's been a busy week…"

"It's to be expected, I suppose." Miku looked around. "Perhaps we should go find Aizawa-sensei…"

"I'm sure there's no need… Let's sit down, anyway, we don't want him to catch us dawdling."

"Right." The twins made their way to their seats; Miku looked around at the now-familiar, nearly empty class. They were one short still…

The door opened again, and as if summoned from her thoughts Hima-kun appeared, a bright smile on his face as always. He caught sight of the twins.

"Hayate-kun! Miku-chan! You're back!"

"Yeah, we're back." Miku almost burst out laughing at the puppy-dog look in Hima-kun's eyes as he wound his way towards them. "It's good to see you, Hima-kun."

Hima-kun stopped in front of them, his eyes shining blue. "I'm so happy you're both alive and well! There were a few minutes there when I wondered –"

"Yeah, I know." Hayate rubbed at his chest. "I gave everyone quite a scare, didn't I?"

"That's an understatement! You, too, Miku-chan."

"Yeah. But…" She waved her ear cheerfully. "It's good to be back."

* * *

And so, just like that, they were back into normal life again. With the all-clear from Recovery Girl, they went home for a lecture about "stupid ways to put your life in danger" and for their father's home-made elderberry cake – "Well, we've got to celebrate you placing so high!"

("But really, the whole house has been smelling of it for ages!" added their mother, rubbing her ears. "He went to a meeting and I swear there was a cloud of elderberry around him.")

Neither of them mentioned what they had talked about in the ward. In a way, it wasn't really important enough, what with all the extra work they had to catch up on crowding out their schedule. But then… Sometimes, one would catch the other's eye. They both knew they couldn't go on like this forever. It was just a matter of time…

* * *

"You will all need to think about where to intern over this break," announced Aizawa, a stack of papers in his hands. "These are all the offers you've all had, so take a good look at them; none of you have got quite as many as in previous years, but you all have some, apart from Sasaki."

They each took the papers. "Whoah… There's so many good hero agencies here!"

"The Union Affairs Office wants me!" Ali-chan hugged the paper to her chest. "Aah, maybe they'll let me work with the Pussycats!"

"Good for you! Your costume will fit right in." Miku scanned her paper; fewer than she had been expecting, perhaps because of her suicidal stunt with Konoro. "I wonder if I should go with Gunhead…"

"This sucks!" Spike slapped his paper impatiently. "I don't want to work with Jeanist!"

"Why not? He's a perfectly reasonable hero."

"That's fine for you to say, Glasses-san, your Quirk would fit right in with him. But me…"

"Oh, you're right, maybe I should accept my offer from him." Making a note next to the jean-wearing hero's name, Abe-san gave Spike a rare smile. "Thank you!"

"What?" Spike groaned. "Dammit. Of course they don't just give one offer."

"Maybe you should try a more normal hero." Hayate pointed out one of the lower ones on his list. "Ingenium, for example. We could go together."

"The Turbo Hero? Nah, he's a bit fast for me."

"You're not making this easy on yourself, you know. You should be grateful to have any at all." Hima-kun frowned and turned to Aizawa-sensei. "Speaking of which, how am I going to gain the experience necessary to be a good pro hero without interning?"

The dark-haired man sighed into his scarf. "Principal Nezu and I have agreed that the best course of action is for you to intern here at UA as an assistant to the teachers. After all, we are pro heroes too; we don't just dress up like this to look cool. Not only that, it'll be easier to keep an eye on you if… If you should decide to use your Quirk."

"I understand." And just like that, Hima-kun's face had cleared up into a smile again; Miku risked a sidelong glance at her brother, but there was no change in Hayate's expression. The blond boy wrote down something in his school notebook and looked back up at Aizawa-sensei. "I look forward to it, sir."

"Don't try to suck up, kid."

"R-right…"


	33. Your Hero Name is --

"Alright class, now that all that internship stuff is out of the way, Midnight is here to help you all figure out your hero names. I doubt it'll take long, so once we're done here you can have the period to study."

The six members of class 1-A nodded eagerly. All of them had been looking forward to trying out their hero names, which most of them had been thinking about since their Quirks manifested.

"Hello, class!" Midnight waved at them saucily and strode up to the teacher's podium. With a flick of her hair, she leaned forward, the better to show off her body seductively. "There are various rules about one's hero name. It does not have to be related to your Quirk or your real name, but it must be as unique as you can make it! I assume you all understand that…" She let her gaze linger on each member of the class, subtly pushing her near-naked breasts towards the students. Miku covered her nose; Hayate wasn't sure if she was embarrassed, laughing, or something else.

"So I'm here to make sure your hero name is appropriate and that its not too similar to anyone else's. Let's give it a go, shall we?"

The class blinked.

"Use the whiteboards I've placed on your desks, you lovely dummies, and I'll start calling you in a minute. Chop chop!"

They picked up the boards, most of them starting to write immediately. Only Hima-kun seemed to be pondering this longer, perhaps toying with several.

Oh well. Hayate and Miku knew what they wanted to be already.

"Well, have you all got an idea now? I'm going to call you in kana order, starting with you there, Abe Shiori."

"Oh, me? Right." Abe-san made his way to the front desk and held up his sign.

[Shiori Thing!]

"It's, uh, sort of a pun on my given name. In English, [Sure thing] is an expression of certainty and trust, something like 'It will certainly be done'." He blushed. "I – I think..."

Midnight pouted. "Not bad. However, you might want to consider: first, the difficulty to pronounce; second, the similarity in name to a certain horror film in which the 'Thing' is a villain." She fluttered her eyelashes and the poor boy blushed even deeper under his glasses.

"Y-yes, sensei…"

"Alright, next! Sasaki Himawari, are you ready?"

Hima-kun looked up. "Er, just a minute!"

"Well, hurry up. Let's see… Nakahara Hayate."

Hayate nodded and stepped forward. "Mine and Miku's are related…"

[Nousagi] _(Hare)_

Midnight sighed. "And I suppose, Miku-chan, yours is [Usagi]? Too similar. Also, Hayate-kun, if she's [Usagi] _(rabbit)_ and you're [No-usagi] _(of the rabbit)_ , then doesn't it sound like you're her sidekick rather than her equal? It's better if you have unique names that can fit together, if you're going that way, that can also work individually."

"O-okay…" He sat down again, and the two of them started discussing their options in hushed whispers.

"Next we have Naito Alice. Come on."

Ali-chan smiled and skipped up with her board.

[Caracal]

"It's not a clever pun or anything… I just happen to like that particular species of cat!"

 _Come on,_ thought Miku with a smile, _we all know it's because you want to be like Ragdoll and become a member of the Wild, Wild Pussycats when you grow up…_

But Midnight was nodding. "It seems like a reasonable enough name. Excellent."

"Thank you!"

"All right, last but not least, let's have Yamamoto Kenji, shall we?"

Spike swaggered to the front, a sharp-toothed grin on his face. "You all already know what I'm gonna say."

[Spike!]

"Might as well turn my nickname into my hero name, right?"

Midnight nodded thoughtfully. "That's true. However, you might need to share a spotlight with a certain copyrighted character of the same name. I mean, it's not unheard-of, there was a kid last year called Bebop, but…"

Spike tipped his head. "Can I keep it, then?"

"Yeah, fine. Now, back to the rest of you… Sasaki, do you have anything yet?"

"Yes, sensei!" The blond boy went up to the front, a serious expression on his youthful, almost cutesy face, and showed his board.

[Sunny!]

He gave a dazzling smile. "I want to be as hoped-for and bright as the sun! I was considering [Hi no Suke] _(Day of Aid)_ , saying that the day has come for me to help people in their hour of suffering, but I thought it was too… serious."

"Ahh, very nice! It also relates to the English translation of your name, [Sunflower], so I'd say it's quite appropriate. You do have a very 'sunny' disposition…" She gave a wink.

"Puns, Midnight?" Aizawa-sensei groaned. "Really? You're not Mrs Joke."

But Midnight was already waving Hima-kun back to his seat. "Nakahara Hayate?"

"Yes'm." He got up again.

[Hare]

"Since the Japanese versions are too similar, we just translated them."

"Well, [Hare] is fine, but if you're calling yourself [Rabbit] –"

Miku shook her head. "No, sensei! Mine is different!"

"Very well, show us then."

She obeyed.

[Bunny!]

"I thought this was cuter than [Rabbit] anyway…"

"Very good! I like the sound of 'Bunny-chan', even though it's quite similar to 'Sunny'." said Midnight. "At least one person that I know of has used [Rabbit] before, as well as [Usagi]; this is a great improvement."

 _'Ba-nii-chan'? But Hayate was the younger brother…_ She shook her head and smiled. Well, it _was_ very cute.


	34. Hayate! Euphonium

And finally, it was the last day before everyone left for their internships. Spike had decided that the whole class – all six of them – deserved to go for a treat, and the white-haired boy Erina-san had insisted that they all come along to a concert held by a certain popular hero-idol group. Surprisingly, even Abe-san had agreed to this; they all sensed somehow that after this time, one way or another, they wouldn't have another chance like this.

Hima-kun in particular seemed in need of a distraction. He was starting to look troubled more often; when asked, he would mutter something about his dad acting oddly, but would almost immediately shake his head and say that it was nothing. As if any of them would believe that. They didn't press him on it.

So they agreed to come, and that afternoon, after going home quickly to change into casual clothes, Hayate and Miku walked towards where the class had agreed to meet. The sun shone, and the two of them went slowly, relishing the warmth of the cheerful, busy streets around them.

"You know, Miku, I've been thinking."

"Oh? That's new."

He shoved her gently. "Fuck you too. Anyway, I just… I think this might be a good time to confess."

"Confess? What to? I'm innocent!"

"Oh, stop it. I mean… You know. Hi-hima-kun… and stuff. It's probably as good a time as ever, you know?"

Miku stared at him, suddenly serious. "It's… It's not Valentine's Day or anything. What's got into you?"

"I just feel like… from now on, we're going to be busy with internships, training, school, festivals, and this and that and the other… If we're not careful, our whole lives will slip away in an instant, and we'll be too focused on our hero careers to… You know. Feel anything."

She frowned. "I suppose so… But wouldn't you equally get distracted from the career we've always dreamed of if we start thinking about this too soon? I mean, it's a youthful crush, it's not like our entire destinies lie on the line."

"I just…" Hayate sighed. "After we got out of the sick bay… Nothing really happened. Nothing changed. We nearly died, Miku. We should have… I don't know. We got a new chance at life, and…"

"Yeah, I see what you mean." She flicked an ear to one side. "It would have been easy to take the opportunity to declare our feelings, is that what you're saying?"

"Pretty much. Life's short, y'know? I had a hole the size of a golf ball in my chest, and I did nothing to… to give back. Even if you don't agree…"

"No, you're right." Miku's face was set, a determined look overtaking her. "Tell you what. Let's make a pact."

"A pact? What kind?"

She held out her lightly furred pinkie finger. "Both of us have to confess to the person we like before the end of the concert, otherwise we pay a penalty."

"I like the sound of that." Hayate hooked his long pinkie around hers. "What's the penalty?"

"Uhmm… You have to write with the wrong hand for a week!"

"Hah! I'll take that!" He grinned. "Promise?"

"Promise." She let go. "But I bet you won't be able to do it."

"I'll do it. It's you who won't do it."

"Scaredy-hare."

"Scaredy-rabbit."

"Oh, hey, Nakaharas!" Spike beckoned at them from an alleyway, interrupting their banter. Beside him, the rest of the class peeked out at them, dressed in casual clothes as they were. "We were wondering where you'd got to."

"Spike! Where's your buddy?"

"Oh, he's gonna go ahead and get us some seats." He grinned. "I know a short cut throught these alleyways, though, and I think we can beat him to it."

"Come on then." Hayate winked at Miku. "As long as you don't get us lost on the way…"

"Me? I have an excellent sense of direction!"

"Well, it doesn't matter that much," said Ali-chan cheerily. "I mean, we've got plenty of time."

They set off. The narrow alleyways, quieter than the main streets, echoed with the sound of their footsteps.

"What band was it again?"

"Come on, Hima-kun, only the greatest hero-idol group of our time."

"What? Not the Villain Haters?"

"No, dum-dum, the Friends of Justice. Of course it's the Villain Haters." Spike flashed his jagged teeth. "And we got cheap tickets!"

"Whoah. No way!"

"Yes way. Lucky, right?"

Abe-san cleared his throat. "Um, that's nice, but… there's someone waving at us."


	35. Last Fairy Tail

"Oh, hey, I know you!" The redheaded boy waved at class 1-A with a smile. "You're from UA, right? It's so cool to see you all in person!"

Did he recognise them from the festival?

"Uh… yeah, we are." Hayate gave a small smile. "Guess it's not too difficult to recognise a six-foot-tall hare, huh?"

The redhead laughed. "Actually, it was Naito-san I recognised from somewhere. It didn't click until I saw the festival."

Ali-chan tipped her head at that, investigating the boy closely. "Do I… know you from somewhere?"

"The name's Aisaka Ryou. I go to a local ordinary high school."

Ali-chan squinted. "Aisaka-san? It… it is you! I thought you seemed familiar." She turned back to the rest of the class, who were watching her inquisitively. "Aisaka-san was in my class at middle school. Though we never really knew each other that well, which was why I didn't realize it at first."

"That's right! Fancy meeting you here! You got into UA, after all."

"I did, I guess." She smiled, slightly uncomfortably. "Well, it was nice seeing you again."

"Actually, I was wondering, since you guys are here…" He grinned. "A few of my friends and I have been given permission to tour a real-life hero office. I know you all have internships and so on, but you're welcome to tag along… Experience, you know."

The UA students looked at each other uncertainly. "We were… already going to a concert…" said Ali-chan, rubbing her arm. Something about this situation was wrong. There was something in the way Ali-chan's eyes kept darting around them, scouting the surrounding paths.

"Oh, concerts can come and go. If you come with us, it'll give us normal folks a chance to hang out with future heroes, right?" Aisaka-san clapped his hands together eagerly. "You know, Naito-san, some of our mutual friends and acquaintances will be there as well."

"Like who, for example?"

"Oh, you know, Miki-chan, Tora-kun…" He tipped his head to one side. "Izumi-chan."

Ali-chan stiffened. "Is she… well?"

"Well as can be expected."

"I… trust there would not be any issue with her."

The boy nodded. "I understand, yes. But I'm sure she'd be happy to see an old classmate. It's been, what, a few months now?"

Ali-chan leant her hand against the nearest wall and closed her eyes, contemplating whatever it was that had so disturbed her. A moment passed.

"You know, guys," said Miku to her own surprise, "perhaps we should get going to the concert. We don't want to keep Spike's friend waiting."

She put her hand to her mouth, suddenly woozy, and saw Ali-chan open her eyes and drop her hand to her side. Ah. So that was what had happened. "And, actually, my nose has started bleeding. I may need to be taken to Recovery Girl." Blood dripped down her face to emphasize her point. There was a ringing in her ears…

"Hmm. Is that so." Aisaka Ryou's expression didn't change. "Hikari-kun, if you could?"

Before any of them could react, a voice came from one of the side alleys behind Aisaka-san. "Activate!"

A small blue line appeared in a roughly square shape around class 1-A; some sort of translucent barrier rose up from it, arching over their heads and meeting in the middle. Then, in an instant, it disappeared again – only the blue line remained, containing class 1-A and conveniently excluding Aisaka-san. Behind him, another boy – a curly-haired blond with a blue stripe down his face – appeared with a grin; presumably he was behind whatever had just happened.

Abe-san stepped forward towards the line. "What do you think you're doing? It's illegal to use your Quirk in public without a license!" He took another tentative step forward, nearing the line cautiously. "I'm putting you under arrest. If you come quietly you may still be let off with a warning." He put out his foot to step over the line – and was sent flying back, his body pulsing with some sort of invisible force.

"I apologise, Naito-san, everyone. I did not introduce you to my friend here. This is Raino Hikari. When he draws lines with his fingers, he can create an invisible barrier such as you see here – or rather, such as you don't see here." He chuckled at his own joke. "It's really impenetrable unless you have some sort of teleportation Quirk and, as you have no doubt noticed, he can delay the activation of the barrier for a while." He smiled sadly. "We are all quite lucky that none of you stood on the line, or worse, straddled it. That… would not have been pretty."

"What kind of crowd have you got us mized up in, Aisaka-san? You were never this type at school…"

The redhead looked at Ali-chan coldly. "You, my dear Naito-san, never did know me that well. You said it yourself: I never showed this side of me… at school."

Ali-chan shuddered. "And the others you mentioned? Our old classmates? Are they in on this?"

"No. At least… Not the one I think you mean."

She grimaced and said nothing, and the boy smiled. "Well, time to get paid." With a flourish, Aisaka-san pulled out his phone and pushed a few buttons.

"Hello? Smoky? Yeah, it's me. Uh-huh. All 6. Yup. Trapped in Hikari's barrier in the place we agreed. Uh-huh. Okay. Standing by." He put the phone away again. "You know, for a guy that didn't get into UA, your barrier is doing surprisingly well against UA students, isn't it? I think getting Cloth Quirk Guy down was a good warning."

"Look, man, I just want the money. My talent isn't important here."

"Uh-huh. And how else would Smokey have been able to get access to these idiots, huh? It's not like anyone can get into the wonderful house of UA. Yet."

"Let's not gloat right now, is what I'm saying."

Before they could continue this tedious conversation, however, a black… something appeared inside the barrier. It grew, and morphed into a pitch black blob of some sort of smoke. A pair of yellow eyes appeared in the midst of it.

"Well, this isn't really my thing, to be honest," came a voice from the swirling abyss, "but I don't really have a choice when it comes to the Master. You did well, boys; you will receive the money shortly." The smoke extended, encircling the class of 1-A in its tendrils. "Master will be so pleased to finally meet you… Sasaki-kun."

With that, the darkness enveloped them, with no chance to ask Hima-kun what the voice meant.


	36. Hero, Spirited Away

Class 1-A dropped to the ground in the darkness. It hadn't been a very far drop, only a few inches at most, but had felt terrifyingly long in the blackness, with no way of telling which way was up. Miku tried to see, to hear anything to figure out where they were. She waved a hand in front of her face experimentally, but saw nothing. They could be miles under the sea – on top of an active volcano – in the cellar of some beautiful public building for all she knew. She swallowed and wiped the blood from her nose.

"Is everyone all right? Who's here?"

"I'm here, Miku." Hayate's voice came from just beside her.

"I'm here, too." Ali-chan seemed a little further away; a couple of steps perhaps. "A little shaken."

"We're all a little shaken after that," replied Spike, somewhere on Miku's left; she couldn't tell exactly where, but probably close by. She had forgotten what it was like to simply not be able to see anything.

"Indeed. I for one would be interested to know more about that old acquaintance of yours… Aisaka-san, was it?" Abe-san seemed annoyed. He seemed to be further to the left than Spike, and Miku was surprised he was awake after getting shocked so badly.

"Three, four, five… that makes all six of us," came Hima-kun's voice from the right. "It was nice of them to keep us all together."

"Do you, by any chance, know why that smoke villain knew your name? Or perhaps you can tell us who this 'Master' is." It was worth a shot, Miku thought; you could (probably) count on Hima-kun to be honest, especially in this sort of situation.

"I'm sorry, Miku-chan, everyone. I have no idea whatsoever what that guy was talking about. I don't think it's a good sign. He seemed to be focused only on me; I wish he'd left you guys behind so you didn't have to get involved in… whatever this is. I'm sorry."

"Don't blame yourself, Hima-kun," answered Hayate, "it wasn't your fault we ran into Ali-chan's classmate."

"You're right there. It was my fault. I should have been able to move along quickly rather than stick around out of curiosity." There was an odd tone in Ali-chan's voice – something like regret mixed with a small, quiet anger unlike her usual self. "I didn't think straight and I walked right into his trap."

"Well, it could have happened to any of us. But, Ali-chan," Miku tipped her head, then realised the girl couldn't see it, "we have a right to know more about Aisaka-san and why he might be willing to sell you out."

There was a sigh from Ali-chan's direction. "Yes, you're right. I'll tell you everything that I know." She paused. "In fact, Aisaka-san is Quirkless, as far as I know; we both went to a school that specialised in… people with weaker or non-existent Quirks. You have to remember, this is before I discovered my possession ability; we all thought that the only thing I could do was use other people's senses. Even now, I can still only take one person at a time with either ability; it's only through Aizawa-sensei's kindness that I got into the hero course."

Aizawa-sensei? Kind? Miku wasn't sure about that…

"Anyway, none of us were really combat-oriented that much. I went to UA fully expecting to be in general studies; perhaps I would get a surveillance job…"

"Get on with it."

"All right, Spike, don't get prickly." She sighed once more. "In short, I'm not entirely sure of his motives: he could simply be jealous of me for getting in the hero course when I'm not strong or – or whatever. On the other hand, it could just be for the money. We weren't exactly friends."

"And… what about the Izumi-chan he mentioned?" Miku asked, twitching her ear slightly. "A friend?"

"Well… yes." Ali-chan's voice suddenly became sad. It was impossible not to want to reach out and hug her, despite the darkness. "She was the epileptic. A good friend, but… that and various other things got us into a big fight before I went to UA. We haven't really talked to each other since then; it's, you know, awkward between us." She stopped. "But… perhaps it's better that way."

There was a long, unhappy silence. With a quiet, pessimistic voice, Abe-san spoke up.

"You… don't think you could find out if there's anyone near us, do you? I mean, read their minds?"

"I'm sorry, Abe-san, everyone. I can only use someone's senses if… if I know they're in my range. But since I don't…"

"Well, that's true," Hima-kun sounded glum. "We could be anywhere, from miles underground to the middle of the city. We might not even be in Japan anymore."

"Exactly." There was a rustle, as of Ali-chan adjusting her clothes. "For example, if I'd known Aisaka-san had a companion… I could have made the other one walk away. But they sprang their trap so fast…"

"Nobody could have predicted that, Ali-chan."

"No. I'm not a mind reader."

There was a tired groan from Spike. "Come on, let's not argue about these distinctions. We're UA students, dammit. We've got to get out of here, even if it's the bottom of the ocean."

"All right." Miku put her hand on the ground and started feeling around. "Everyone try to find the walls or a door or something. I think –"

There was a noise. She froze. "Actually, wait. I heard something on the other side of the wall. I think – I think someone's nearby."

"Right." Ali-chan's voice was determined. "I'll try and use their senses unintrusively."

A pause. One second, two. She seemed to be trying to locate… whoever it was.

"There, I think I've found them. I'll go in now." Everyone paused, listening closely to her breathing, trying to catch the moment of truth.

There was a yelp.

"Gah!" She began to pant, gasping quickly at the air. "Oh, god…"

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"I think… I think this person has some sort of mental defence Quirk… Oh, my head… It feels like… aah… being stabbed by Spike." A groan. "No offense. But… mentally, it's as though he has some sort of malicious aura." She chuckled slightly, a dead, empty sort of sound. "So, yes, there is something wrong. Something there is very wrong indeed."


	37. Serial Experiments Quirk

Er1na: spike? where u at? got caught in traffic?

spike: Sorry, it looks like we can't make it, we've been held up by Aizawa

Er1na: oh man that sucks

Er1na: what a shit teacher

spike: This is Aizawa, I am reporting you to your homeroom teacher

Er1na: don't prank me like that dude

spike: okay you got me this is Kati

spike: stole spike's phone before they went to the concert

spike: I actually have no idea where they are

Er1na: … Kati who?

spike: Konoro Katia, you may also know me as knife arms

Er1na: are you the scythe guy

spike: I'm a girl dummy

spike: I nearly beat NakaMiku herself

Er1na: oh yeah

Er1na: but you didn't

spike: frick you :P

spike: I'm coming to the concert to find those assholes

spike: and then I'm gonna cut u up

Er1na: this prank has gone too fucking far spike

spike: sorry man it really is Kati

Er1na: then… where's spike?

spike: I don't know

Er1na: fuck

Er1na: wait, nvm, there's a redhead here who says he knows where they went

spike: ?

spike: where'd you go

Er1na: No need to worry. I have found Spike and co.

spike: okay cool thank goodness

Er1na: The redhead is an awesome guy.

spike: lol gaaaaaaaaaaaaay

Er1na: I am turning my phone off now for the concert.

-Er1na has disconnected-

* * *

Somewhere in the tiny room, something or other went click. A slow engine-like noise, like an elevator door opening, began to sound; none of them moved. For a brief moment, Miku wondered whether the floor would open onto a pit of spikes again, and got into a crouch, but – no, there was light. A line of slowly widening greenish light had appeared at the edge of what seemed to be a wall, no more than a foot in front of them; behind them, another wall was revealed, its stony side offering no clues about their location. There was no way any of them could get out of there…

She looked around for Hayate, who caught her eye with a look of terror. What were they in for? Miku crouched next to him, trying not to show her fear.

The slowly opening wall unveiled a room full of tubes, monitors, fluids, and screens; a mess of medical and scientific equipment, all flowing towards… She peered around the door, moving inch after inch to reveal the room; whoever this person was had a sense of the dramatic. Everything in the room was feeding into or coming out of some sort of massive, medical-based throne; a person sat there, tubes and wires bleeding into and around his skin. A tall plain pillar loomed to the man's left, giving just a little too much shadow in the twilight gloom. She shuddered suddenly.

The man in the chair seemed mostly ordinary, wearing a black suit as if it was just another day at the office. His head, however… His face was scarred over, leaving no eyes or nose, only a lightly smiling mouth; around his neck, some sort of breathing device sat carefully among all the other little pipes.

His mouth opened a little wider in a smile. An eyeless, nose-less smile with perfectly normal and yet completely terrifying teeth. A smile that seemed to say he could end the lives of a billion people in interesting and creatively horrible ways in an instant, but was waiting for the right moment. A thought entered Miku's head.

 _There would be so much blood, covering the ground, pouring from her wounds, their wounds, dyeing the ground, the bones crushed beyond repair, every cell in her body torn away from its rightful home into a mess of pain and –_

She sank to her knees, crumpling into Hayate's shaking arms. On either side, her classmates cowered in fear.

The man pulled the mask up over his mouth and fastened it in place; despite his lack of eyes, Miku felt him staring at the class. He seemed uncomfortably pleased.

"Good afternoon." His voice was deep and mechanical, the mask modulating it even as it – presumably – helped him breathe. "And welcome. I… am All for One."


	38. The Melancholy of Sasaki Himawari

"That Quirk is useful." Abe-san flinched.

"That one, too." Spike shuddered and looked away.

"These two – perhaps." Miku and Hayate clutched at each other mutely, desperately seeking a way out.

"That one – hmm." He tutted. "That one is much too dangerous for a child like you."

The masked man reached out a hand to the quivering Ali-chan. A long tentacle of who-knows-what snaked from somewhere hidden in his sleeve; Hayate and Miku watched in horror. The tentacle connected.

For a moment she sat here, quaking on the floor, staring cross-eyed at the tentacle on her forehead. Then, without a sound, she collapsed to the floor, her eyes staring vacantly into the night.

"I'll take that and give it to someone more worthy. Or then again… Perhaps I'll keep it for myself." There was a hollow pause. The masked man sighed. "No use letting her live, I suppose. I don't need any more future heroes."

Ali-chan stopped breathing, as if a switch had been flipped in her brain.

Oh, god. Miku buried her face in Hayate's chest. "A-a-a-a-a…."

"Now, as for _this_ Quirk…" The masked man turned his head towards the shadow behind the pillar. "You did quite well with this one, Cloner."

"He's my best creation, if I say so myself."

Hima-kun looked up suddenly. "W-wait… is that – I know that voice – D-dad?"

The shadowed figure stepped forward into the light. There was no mistaking it: the long dark hair, the attractive figure, the excellent eye-makeup, the chin stubble –

"Dad! Please! Help us! I don't know what he means, but please, help! He killed Ali-chan!"

Sasaki Susumu blinked lazily. "Hm. So he did. That's a useful Quirk. Any DNA of that person left?"

"Sorry." The deep voice from the helmet chuckled slightly. "I forgot that minor detail."

"Dad! Please! Please at least tell me you're not in league with –"

"With him? Oh, I'm not important enough to be in a league…"

"Please, Dad! Help us!" Hima-kun's voice began to crack; Hayate, through his numbness, was surprised it hadn't cracked sooner. "Please! I'm your only son!"

"Only?" Sasaki Susumu tipped his head. "On the contrary." He clapped his hands. A young man and a young woman emerged from the shadows, their eyes blank. "Meet your much older brother and sister, Tori and Sakana. Dearests, show your little brother how to behave with the real life All for One."

The two dropped to one knee in front of the guy in the mask, lowering their heads in reverence.

Hima-kun stared. His face was white and stiff.

The man in the mask gave another chuckle; Hayate wished he wouldn't. "Perhaps you should explain all of this."

Sasaki Susumu stepped up, laying a hand on each of his older children's heads. "You see, _darling_ , I never was Quirkless, at least not in the conventional sense. And, in fact, you never had any such thing as a mother. I made you, just as I made these two, long ago."

He smiled. "It's not so hard. A pinch of someone's DNA, a pinch of my own, rub it together, and hey presto! A clone, with a Quirk that's almost, but not quite, exactly like the target's. It's easy, when you're being rescued, to… just take a pinch of hair. Or if you meet them another way – 'Please, Mr Hero, comfort poor, Quirkless me.' Then they practically give it to you." He winked. "Actually, would you like a baby brother or sister? I've got Endeavour's DNA right here."

The masked man chuckled once more. "You know, Cloner, I don't think we'll bother with the Endeavour clone just yet. Give it a few years, perhaps. Wait for Shigaraki to decide what's right."

Sasaki Susumu pouted. "Oh, but I want another baby! They're so cute when you have power over them."

"I don't deny, you're an excellent source of Nomu material. But I have other sources."

"Pity." Sasaki Susumu looked at his cloned son, a complete lack of empathy or fatherly love on his face. "As much as I had to guess at this one's Quirk, it was rather fun…"

"You bastard." To his surprise, Hayate discovered the words were coming from his own mouth, hoarse and shaky as his voice was. "You fucking used him. He trusted you as his father! He relied on you for help!"

"Hmm. Yes. Well, he won't feel that betrayal for much longer. Master has some… other plans for him. Master?"

The masked man gave a nod. "Oh, yes. Let me see now… I have supplies for Shigaraki already, but… yes, I think that would be best." He raised his hand.

"Who?" A single word burst from Hima-kun's lips. "Who is it that I – who is it that you cloned me from?" He stared up at his father, his eyes pleading in desperation. "I at least have the right to know that. Please!"

He really didn't know…

"Isn't it obvious, Hima-kun?" Hayate looks into those pained and betrayed blue eyes one last time. Tears began to blur his vision. "You're All Might, Little Sunflower. You're a clone of All Might."

There was a horrible, terrible silence.

"Oh my god…" The orange-blond boy crumpled to the floor. "Oh my god…" His body shook with sobs. "I always wanted to be like him… Not like this! Not like this…"

"Peace, child. You can still run away from us." The masked man leaned forward slightly. "All you need to do is activate your Quirk and all this will go away. You can still save yourself, and your little friends. Go on. Let him out."

"No, I won't believe it… I won't do it! Please! He'll kill everyone!"

Sasaki Susumu sniffed derisively. "I think I mentioned this one's a little less… compliant."

"No matter." The masked man sent out his tentacle once more. It crept closer to Hima-kun. "Alternative measures can be arranged."

Hima-kun looked up. "I – wait – no!" The tentacle touched his neck softly, almost lovingly. "Nopleasenonononono-"

His body began to grow and change. He grasped desperately at the ground, trying desperately to resist it. "No, please, don't let him out, no, nononoooo-"

There was a brief breath, then—

"I am here… to serve you, my Master."

Slowly, carefully, Faux Might – the man-boy who had carried Hayate in his arms like a baby, a raw example of power and strength, a near-identical copy of the original – got up onto one knee, bowing his head low before the masked man between his brother and sister. Hayate saw a flash of blue beneath his eyebrows.

"Oh, perfect. Well done, Cloner. A Quirk with a mind of its own, that obeys me when even its user does not?"

"Well, you allowed me some creative license, so why not?"

"Hah. Will it obey Shigaraki as well?"

The cloned hero – no, Hayate thought, the cloned villain – smiled coldly. "I will obey any person that you see fit to instruct me, my master."

"Good. He's got a little plan in the works, perhaps you can help him. He wants to kill All Might – the real one."

The muscled orange-blond mountain looked up. "Kill All Might? I've wanted to do that all my life."

"So have I, my young friend. Now –" The tentacle returned to the nape of Faux Might's neck. "Let's get you ready, shall we?"

The tentacle pulsed. Faux Might's skin rippled.

"Hmmm… Shock Absorption, I think. And… mmm… Regeneration. And perhaps an extra couple of strength Quirks on top. And…"

Hayate stared in horror. Faux Might was… growing? Even more? His skin began to darken, a tone like a bad bruise starting to wash over his skin. And his head…

His mouth distended, developing into a sharp, beak-like protrusion filled with square white teeth. His eyes bulged out of his skull, losing their bluish hue and becoming dull and blank. His blond hair, swept back in All Might's signature style, peeled away from his head; an odd dome made an appearance on his head in its place. A crack, and suddenly Hayate could see the cloned villain's brain, pulsing in the light. He gagged.

"Oh, beautiful." Sasaki Susumu sashayed slowly towards the hulking monster and laid a delicate hand on the side of his – of its horrible face. "There, now, doesn't that feel better? To be blessed with Quirks from on high – to fulfil the destiny that I made you for. Oh yes, I think I can safely say you're my best creation yet. _Our_ best creation."

"Very good," said the masked man. "Now, Nomu… Kill your family."

"Wha—?"

Without even blinking – could that monster even blink? – the thing brought a massive hand down on Sasaki Susumu's head.

He split open.

Beside Hayate, Abe-san fainted; Miku merely clung closer to her brother, her eyes blank with shock.

The monster turned to the blank-faced young man next, breaking his neck with one smooth motion; then brought a massive fist down on what had once been his 'sister'.

"You… bastards…" Hayate struggled to speak, blood leaking from his mouth. "What did you do to Hima-kun?"

The tentacle slithered its way towards the huddled group of trainee heroes. It stopped, just in front of Hayate's face.

"The same thing I'm going to do to all of you, of course. Turn you into Nomus."

The last thing Hayate thought, as the tentacle connected with his face, was that he hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye…


	39. Your Lie-Detecting in April

_To Principal Nezu and Aizawa-sensei,_

 _I would like to thank you for your excellent teaching in these last few weeks. You have really helped me to feel more confident in my Quirk._

 _Unfortunately, I have suddenly been transferred to a certain top-secret hero school far away from here, along with all of my classmates. You may already have received similar letters to this effect from them._

 _The school requires the utmost security and discretion, which is why I will no longer be able to contact you or anyone else at UA ever again. Rest assured, however, you will see me again one day. Watch out for me on the news – Sunny, the All Might hero. Perhaps we will even fight together one day, as equals._

 _Meanwhile, I and my classmates bid our families goodbye and set off on the long and arduous journey to adulthood. I hope you can respect our decision, and allow us to grow into the heroes that you see in us._

 _I remain, your ever faithful and eager student,_

 _Sasaki Himawari_

Aizawa-sensei put the letter down, onto the pile with the other four. One from each of his students, apart from the twins who had sent a joint one. He looked at Principal Nezu, and at the dark-haired woman in front of them.

"Detective…"

"Just Naito is fine."

"Naito-san. Can you detect any lies in this? You, after all, know your sister better than anyone."

Naito Miriam shook her head. "I'm sorry, Aizawa-sensei, Principal. I am not good with the written word. If she was speaking to me face-to-face…"

"Then," asked the mousy Principal, "you have no idea where the children actually are?"

She sighed. "I hate to say it, especially of my own sister, but there are many villain groups willing to go this far to have a person like her or her classmates on their side. There's no way of knowing…"

"There is no hope of it being the truth?" asked Aizawa-sensei, already knowing the answer.

"How many top secret hero schools do _you_ know of?"

He considered this. "None. They're secret."

Nezu frowned. "I am aware of five, none of which have admitted any students since the term began."

"Exactly." The woman tapped her cheek with her finger. "My organization is aware of seven in total, but they have not alerted us to any sudden changes in their classes either."

"So… what does your organisation propose to do about this?"

"We will take over the investigation." She pushed her hair out of her face and gave the two teachers a level stare. "It is vital to keep this close among ourselves, you understand? The last thing we want to do is alert the villains to our concerns."

"But surely," asked Aizawa, still trying to play devil's advocate, "that will encourage them to act more openly?"

"We have no choice, Aizawa-sensei," replied Nezu. "If the villains realise our designs, it is possible… that they will murder our students."

"Then… what will we tell the parents?"

Naito Miriam sighed. "I can talk to mine, but the rest I will have to leave to you. Please assure them that we are doing everything in our power to find and restore their children." She bowed her head slightly. "Of course, once they've been missing for long enough, it doesn't matter…"

"Take heart, Naito-san!" Principal Nezu gave her an encouraging smile. "This may all be a big misunderstanding."

She looked back up at them, her expression hardening again. "If you haven't heard from us in a few months… there will be nothing else you can do."

"I see." Nezu lowered his gaze. "We will hope for the best."

The woman stood up and gave the two teachers a short bow. "We'll keep in touch."

"Very well."

Aizawa nodded at her. "Good luck."

* * *

"It worked. I threw the teachers off the scent. If we string them along long enough, we might even be able to keep them off our tails until your big comeback."

"Good. No need to have them on our tails any more than necessary." There was a small, metallic chuckle on the other end. "Soon, their thirst for answers will be quenched. Soon, they will have more of us than they can handle."

Naito Miriam smiled slowly, like a cat. "Indeed. I look forward to that day… Master."


	40. Epilogue: Ghost in the Vat

An old tune filtered down from somewhere, sounding muffled and tinny through the liquid in the vat. The warehouse, usually as silent as a grave, echoed the sound mournfully.

 _Remember me_

 _Though I have to say goodbye_

 _Remember me_

 _Don't let it make you cry…_

Nomu #27 listened, and wondered why the tune made it feel so… wrong. The vague flickers that were left of its emotions told #27 that it should be feeling… sad? But why?

Nomu #27 looked into the neighbouring tank at Nomu #28 and tried to flick its ears, then realised that it didn't have any. It made do by twitching its head side to side. The other Nomu, oddly feminine for a giant hulking beast, twitched back.

A greenish, sharp-nailed hand touched the inner glass of the tank in front of #27. Had there, perhaps, been a connection with #28? #27's brain was foggy. The glowing liquid that surrounded it wasn't helping. It couldn't remember…

Nomu #28 put a hand up to the wall of its own tank, mirroring #27 exactly. For a moment, they looked into each other's blank and staring eyes. #27 noticed that #28 had several narrow scars on its shoulders, as if its back had been cut with something long and sharp. It wasn't sure what that meant.

It put a hand to its own chest, where a slight dip rested just a little too close to its heart. A scar, perhaps, from its old life. Were these injuries… related?

There were other Nomus around them. One seemed to be holding a ragged piece of cloth in its hands – or was that a piece of metal? Another, asleep in its vat, kept unconsciously sheathing and unsheathing its claws – or was that a row of smaller spikes?

Nomu #27 looked back at #28. There should be two more here, it was certain. Nomus #27-30 were incomplete without… without whom? Without which?

#28 made an odd groaning noise, and seemed to be trying to speak within the thick, unyielding liquid. "A-a-a-a…. riiiii….chaaaa… nnnn…."

Yes, that was one. #27 tried its best to concentrate. Who was the other?

A name summoned itself to #27's broken brain.

 _Himawari…_

Then its mind clouded over once more, and there was nothing.

 _Until I hold you in my arms again, remember me…._


End file.
